What are your views on AI? Good, Bad, Indifferent?
Posted by richbart1234@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 61 comments
[removed]
Posted by richbart1234@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 61 comments
[removed]
ckdx_@reddit
Big fan here. For coding tasks it is truly revolutionary and can be a massive productivity multiplier.
For human-centric tasks, probably not that useful.
Decard_Pain@reddit
What people fail to understand is that you need to still understand coding to benefit from it, they think it means anyone can use it.
ckdx_@reddit
Well in fairness, my non-developer brother has had excellent results and he doesn’t know the first thing about coding.
Is the code ‘slop’? Perhaps yes. Does it work for his needs? Also yes.
Decard_Pain@reddit
But if it didn't work and it was a lot of code he wouldn't have a clue how to fix it, thus he's of no use to a business.
ckdx_@reddit
Of course, but he's using it for hobby purposes.
Clear_Mode_4199@reddit
not much of a coding hobby if you're not actually doing the coding
Decard_Pain@reddit
Right? I'm going to do a hobby but not actually improve at my hobby because I'm not actually doing it.
ckdx_@reddit
The coding is incidental to his hobby, not his hobby itself!
NrthnLd75@reddit
So essentially a VERY EXPENSIVE toy for non-experts to tinker with.
ckdx_@reddit
I referred him to the $10 Github Copilot Pro plan and he used it for a month. Not sure if we resubscribed. Seems like great value to me. I pay for the same plan as well personally.
NrthnLd75@reddit
I meant very expensive in terms of global environmental impact and market valuations, not individual plans. Sorry.
Countcristo42@reddit
Eh I wouldn't say "no value" - no value *as a software engineers* sure but this kind of "spot" ai code can make plenty of people more valuable in other roles I think.
Not the kind that make it to a codebase obviously, but the type of person for whom a quick and dirty unmaintainable project might help
Decard_Pain@reddit
Anything not base level they couldn't do.
Timely_Egg_6827@reddit
A lot of software has frontends backed up with syntax that only a few "experts" use. Most people don't actually use programmes for anything like their full range. I am using one at that moment that most of our team use for X-tabs, frequencies and filters. You can do lots more with the frontend let alone once you start using all the backend commands.
My colleagues are of immense value to the organisation and them being able to do that means the people who need to do more detailed analysis have the space to do it.
Decard_Pain@reddit
That's bollocks and you know it.
Timely_Egg_6827@reddit
Which bit? Think you'd be surprised how little functionality of programmes most people use.
nathderbyshire@reddit
Claude wrote me a widget in a few seconds to view half hourly energy prices on my homescreen through home assistant. I'd have had to sell my soul to do that myself. I've also finally been able to move to Linux and get comfortable self hosting and running things locally which is far more efficient than anything cloud based. My miniPC uses 6 watts, it's absolutely nothing
Not saying it doesn't have issues, everything does, but I do wonder if a lot of the diehard AI haters still upload all their media and documents to cloud storage, same for phone backups and everything else, they'll happily use Google search and services and a million different websites that all take huge data centres and resources to function. They'll still consume dairy and meat, one of if not the biggest consumers of natural resources but then they shame someone for just using a chatbot.
I'm very interested in offline models, especially for more basic needs. Ensu is a nice option from the Ente company that's supposed to be super private, I like all their products
bisikletci@reddit
It's not a scam. It's become very good and knowledgeable in some fields/at some tasks, and keeps getting better.
It seems to be environmentally problematic to say the least, and its consequences for society coould be disastrous in all sorts of ways, though who knows how it will all turn out.
Imaginary_Key4205@reddit
If you know how to use it properly it speeds up workflows and is incredibly useful for identifying errors and stress testing ideas.
As a tool to replace human effort and input it is essentially useless.
PM_ME_UR_VULVASAUR_@reddit
Pass the cocktail
Lucindaxz@reddit
I hate on a visceral level that I can't enjoy art at face value at all anymore, because my immediate thought when I look at anything is now "Did a person make this or is it just AI generated slop?"
Appropriate-Aside-26@reddit
People think ai will take over the world but I don’t believe that. But there is one thing. How long before no one trusts anything because they think it’s ai. Be it a video a song could you trust the news. That text message you just got a video call. Is that really your mum on the other end.
Lucindaxz@reddit
This is already happening. Scammers are using AI to clone voices from audio taken from social media to impersonate relatives in fake emergenies, asking for money.
People are literally hearing their "loves ones" asking for urgent help over the phone and it isn't them, it's a scammer.
jurwell@reddit
There was a time not that long ago where you could absolutely be certain that a piece of media was created by a human. Now everything you see has a degree of uncertainty, and that devalues everything.
Appropriate-Aside-26@reddit
It’s already happening there’s even a Reddit asking is this ai. And people saying that’s an ai your replying too. It will get worse and soon you won’t believe anything unless you’ve see it with your own two eyes
nathderbyshire@reddit
Saw a post on twitter with for some reason people arguing about where the male g spot is and they were all saying things like "this is basically fact, this is literally proven false lol" and then each reply was posting screenshots of an AI summary 🤨
RainbowPenguin1000@reddit
People who criticise it and say it “looks terrible” or gets things wrong aren’t accepting the fact that it is still progressing.
You can look at AI now compared to 12 months ago and the quality is much higher so where will it be in another 12, 24, 36 months?
It will definitely change the world as we know it because it can do things so much faster and companies will always want speed over a human touch.
People can criticise it and call it AI slop but that changes nothing and it’s not going anywhere.
I wish it wasn’t a thing as I believe we, as humans, will end up worse off because we will be less skilled and have less jobs and variety in our work long term but it’s here and it isn’t going away.
jeminar@reddit
Saying AI is shit because it's slop is like telling Henry Ford that cars are shit because the Model T doesn't do 100mph.
Clear_Mode_4199@reddit
Regardless of technical improvements I haven't seen a single AI generated image that isn't repulsive in a very specific way that I have never experienced looking at real art.
nathderbyshire@reddit
https://github.com/tikel1/HA-isometric-animated-picture-card
These are made by AI, I wouldn't call them repulsive, quite the opposite they're cool as fuck
krokadog@reddit
The survivorship bias - how have you validated that each image you’ve seen that didn’t repulse you was made by a human.
MaxMouseOCX@reddit
It's a tool, so is a knife, a bow and a gun.
Like most tools, they can be used for many different things, AI is absolutely no different in this regard.
Now, there's never been a tool that's become sentient, if that's what happens, then it crosses the barrier from tool to life form and all bets are off as to wtf happens to it, us, the planet and society in general.
trippykitsy@reddit
to sum up my current views, if i could press a button that disables every AI data centre id do it without hesitation
Jimmy90081@reddit
Ai can probably help with that.
nathderbyshire@reddit
"To turn off AI, go to here > here and here
You go there and the setting doesn't exist lol
Jimmy90081@reddit
Of course. Or “Write me a script to connect to APIs and turn off AI, generalise it to work for as many AI as possible, oh, and loop through it 10 billion times until it almost works, then show me that one which still doesn’t almost work at all.” 🤣
dewittless@reddit
AI is a huge category.
If you're discussing images, it's not coming for talented artists, it's coming for filling in gaps with the kind of art you don't really pay attention to.
For video, it's a cheaper alternative tocexpemsive CG or reshoots.
For coding, it may well engulf and entirely replace the junior level of the profession, which is a problem because nobody starts at senior programmer.
For mental health an absolutely terrifying threat you must avoid.
OddSign2828@reddit
It seems to have peaked and stagnated, and it’s really not that impressive.
As a management consultant, m it can do some BASIC research for me (when it’s not making stuff up), but critical thinking or material development is poor. In fact my biggest problem is juniors copy and pasting everything it spits out without the experience to know it’s BS.
I feel very secure in my job, AI isn’t coming for me anytime soon. Plus, half my job is getting a grilling from clients who want to score political points, there’ll always be a human need for that.
bow_down_whelp@reddit
It's ok. I've put a lot of stuff through it and tbh it's fairly shit and I couldn't stand over it. It's good for a Wikipedia style introduction into something you know nothing about
General_Membership64@reddit
I don't think you'll get a good answer on Reddit, this is one of the most anti ai places anywhere, but really it's just a tool, I've played around with it, but it's deffo not like nfts, I heard for years what "the Blockchain" COULD do, and have yet to see a single use of it. AI is something you can use today, yeah the art might not be as good as Human, but it's cheap, and it's instant, and there's often good enough for people.
mrhippoj@reddit
I don't think it's quite like NFTs. With NFTs I really could see no practical use for them whatsoever. AI by contrast I think has some pretty obvious use cases, the most apparent and every-day one being fulfilling the promise set by Ask Jeeves. I think the ability to ask AI a question and have it genuinely answer is legitimately useful for a lot of people, even if it still doesn't get it right all the time.
The problem is that for the most part I don't think its use is worth the cost. Environmentally it's terrible, it's costing people jobs and destroying, but the bigger problem in my mind is that it's ruining people's grip of reality. The fact that someone can clone your voice and use it to verbally agree to something over the phone, the fact that it's possible to make it look like a politician did something they didn't, the fact that you can create porn of people without their consent, all that stuff is a cultural disaster.
I get it. I get why people use Chat GPT, and I'd be lying if I said I never did, but I think when you add everything up the world is worse off for this technology existing, and I don't think it's been developed with the betterment of mankind in mind.
terryjuicelawson@reddit
It has its uses, but rather it was kept to that rather than guiding everything. Always check its output too of course. In my IT role it is excellent as I can throw in "what is the command for [obscure thing I can't recall at this moment]" and it gives a really good rundown of it. Previously I'd be trawling forums, maybe getting out a hard copy of a particular handbook, finding cheat sheets etc. People dead against it I don't think they realise how much it is used in the background already and has done for years.
Swimming_Possible_68@reddit
Between AI, coupled with the huge advances in robotics, I genuinely see a future where millions of people will lose their jobs.
I have a relative who has pretty much shit down their translation firm as 80% of the work has vanished.
When we were kids we were promised that robots and the like would give us loads of free time, but seemingly not at the expense of quality of life.
The reality is, lots of people losing their jobs and having 'free time' whilst living in poverty, or even worse, working all hours and still living in poverty.
Swimming_Possible_68@reddit
I hate the fact that every video, every photo I see I now automatically assume it's not real until proven otherwise.
It's made making fake imagery easy and instant to the masses.
ActivatedApple@reddit
In short, AI is great - in moderation AND with moderation. Should have heavy vetting by a person analysing its use, specifically around where the produced content is monetized.
Clear_Mode_4199@reddit
Great for what exactly?
Clear_Mode_4199@reddit
There're zero legitimate uses for it imo. It doesn't exist in my life at all and I'll be keeping it that way.
BigFatSue_@reddit
That’s just nonsense. It’s one thing saying you’re not a fan, but outright denial of any benefit is just delusional.
Clear_Mode_4199@reddit
What benefits? I've no doubt that a lot of people have managed to get rich from it all, but they've achieved that by pumping out repulsive slop content wasting electricity and scamming people. I haven't seen a single application of it in business that genuinely improves productivity or creates a better product.
lonehorizons@reddit
Problem is we won’t have a choice about whether it’s in our lives or not. E.g. you get randomly arrested one day because a dodgy facial recognition system in Sainsburys identified a shoplifter as you.
Clear_Mode_4199@reddit
I'm considering going back to masking for this reason
FornyHucker22@reddit
I like it, it will only get better too.
nothing like nfts, that was just some weird tonic that went viral. Very stupid.
ai is the future, it’s going nowhere.
dbxp@reddit
It's definitely not a scam like NFTs, there is some utility to it.
There are however question marks around the commercial side and how much cash is actually changing hands, they have a habit of announcing big investments upfront but when you dig into them they're over multiple years or unfunded.
On the subject of AI slop the issue is more around the attention economy which makes it worth making. Slop content has been around for a long time, AI just super charges it. The issue is it's more profitable to make low quality content in many cases and TBH a lot of people like it.
WildOne19923@reddit
It's revolutionary for better or worse. It can increase efficiency in laborious mandraulic tasks, and is/will continue to make entire industries redundant.
EvilTaffyapple@reddit
It’s a tool - no more, no less.
The technology certainly has the ability to be disruptive, which we’re seeing play out right now, but it’s in a weird place where CEOs think it’s more powerful than it is and workers don’t think it’s powerful enough.
There has been disruptive technology in the past - humanity adapts and moves on.
Imaginary_Finger7844@reddit
Indifferent.
When it becomes self aware my bum might start to twitch but AI is inevitable.
No_Release2180@reddit
A year ago I was very pro-AI. Very much felt that it was a new technology that we just had to learn to use and understand, and not be scared of.
Now, I am very concerned by it. I have no issues with AI being used in contexts where it takes the effort and time out of menial tasks, such as compiling data. And I have no issue with using it as a tool for research or skill improvement if it is in moderation and makes sense.
I am less concerned with the fears of AI taking jobs (more jobs will be made - there is always something that threatens to take jobs). My main issues with it revolve around the threat to the arts and creativity, the lack of current policy and safety measures, cybersecurity concerns, and the sudden and alarming reliance many people have on it for basic tasks.
I am finding it's sudden prevalence in every corner of my life insidious and borderline dystopian.
Capt_Capital@reddit
AI is completely different to NFTs. NFTs were a scam since there was no value to them besides user-perceived value but AI actual does things and has a purpose.
for many jobs, especially CS, AI has revolutionised the industry. it is now easier than ever to launch/manage your own business with AI to help automate various tasks and do tasks that you'd previously need to have specialist knowledge in or hire someone for.
I think the vast majority of people still don't know how to use/leverage AI to its full potential yet. it's only institutions and enterprise clients that are taking full advantage of AI. and we will slowly see it take most of the entry/low level positions in many industries that aren't "hands on" or in-person services.
Timely_Egg_6827@reddit
AI has a role - I used a webchat agent at 3am last night that delivered a solution to a simple programme. Good AI products go deep rather than broad - they do a simple task but quickly and with a level of concentration most humans can't do.
Creative is tricky - AI books have led to one death and I think for factual books, we need AI tags. I like listening to some AI music but usually that has a lot of human input as well. And "proper" music is better as more quirky and less formulaic. But for lift canned music or easy listening, it is fine.
Creative relies on original artists, musicians and authors' works and way needs to be found to pay them royalties in my opinion. No fresh idea and AI will get increasingly weird and wrong.
epicmindwarp@reddit
AI isn't a scam by any means. For your use case of design it might be terrible, but for other sectors it's causing serious disruption.
In the tech sector (or just about anything logic based), people are being replaced by AI to do regular tasks humans used to perform. Companies are having wide layoffs because AI can do the work of an increasing share of people. It's widespread and unequivically disruptive.
The cost savings are significant, especially with the investment required so little. It's changing slightly now, the costs are increasing again, especially as the vendors need to start turning a profit. There is a bit of a false economy in the early stages though, as the investment can be significant by way of implementation costs (consultants etc), but in the long term, it will probably pay off.
Haven't heard of many companies backtracking, but this is the case for every new technological rollout - there will always be push back.
The environment is a concern i.e. energy usage, but companies like Microsoft are looking to develop their own nuclear power plants to power it.
Where it is replacing people, there's no need for the human touch.
It's good because my £180 Claude Code subcription has net me 66x ROI - for one client. It's helped me do things that I wasn't able to do before.
Just because you don't see the benefits, doesn't mean there aren't any.
AutoModerator@reddit
Please help keep AskUK welcoming!
When replying to submission/post please make genuine efforts to answer the question given. Please no jokes, judgements, etc. If a post is marked 'Serious Answers Only' you may receive a ban for violating this rule.
Don't be a dick to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on.
This is a strictly no-politics subreddit!
Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.