Most of the prompt answers are smart sounding bullshit. Maybe that's why the headlines never stop - the people who like to make smart sounding bullshit are the ones who love ChatGPT.
I understand it's 'just' a language model, but it doesn't matter - that's not how it's perceived, and it is actually rather impressive anyway.
What you're seeing is just a manifestation of a rather major (sociological) event, and while I understand that the amount of hype is a bit over the top, to a large extent it makes sense.
So, every time I see it mentioned I feel depressed and sick on the inside.
I will say, however, that so far it has actually enhanced my productivity in my current projects, and that’s fine. I just don’t think that its impact will remain so limited for long.
Of all the tech that’s been invented, this is the one I fear the most in terms of its negative impact on jobs. Hope I’m wrong!
Sort of in line with the usual switchbait behavior certain companies are well known for, except at a grander scale: first compel people to share information openly and publicly, then use it against them.
We wouldn’t give Google a free pass if it stopped sending us traffic and started only showing aggregated information on its pages. Heck, there was an outcry when they merely started showing questions before search results, even though they actually credited the website. Somehow we are fine when OpenAI, the for-profit company with antithetical name, and Microsoft, its largest partner with which billions it plays, do the same.
1. I'm just naturally averse to any sort of hype. Maybe something I should talk to a therapist about because it's only rational to some degree. I've been building software for decades, and almost every hype that came up meant more boring/annoying work for me - usually around resolving misconceptions non-technical people get from the news. Rewarded only by the grim satisfaction that people finally get it a few years delayed ("blockchain technology" is my favourite example here).
2. I can only see the bad LLMs can bring: A further decline of quality in a ton of areas, having to deal with worse writing and user interfaces in my private life, and worse code and tools in my professional life. It's just largely dystopian in my mind, I don't see any benefits. Code writing speed is hardly a bottleneck for the kind of work I do, I actually find it to be a small, particularly satisfying part of it. Is it more fun for a violinist to not touch the instrument and instead just tell a machine what to play? Certainly not for me. Generating elaborate wiki pages and SEO spam? Hell no, it's bad enough without LLM assistance.
The strategy I developed over the years is to learn enough about the hyped thing to feel like I don't miss out on information I need to have in case it comes up, and then to largely ignore it. Things are rarely eaten as hot as they are cooked. Sometimes, I start to get into the hyped thing a little later on the hype cycle, having waited for the early adopters to figure out what it's actually valuable for. At that point I usually am not appalled by it anymore. There's nothing wrong with _not_ being an early adopter of something. And it's also not as if you can do anything to stop it, whatever is gonna happen, happens. All you can control is how you react to that, in what you do, as well as emotionally.
I heard this trend is everywhere around at multinational corps in our country.
Most people are very intimidated by a blank page or empty code editor. Most people need a helping hand and someone to help them navigate a problem. Most people have a lot of difficulty producing individual work on their own.
Think of this like flipping the other end of a ping pong table up so you can bounce the ball back. Sure there’s no real person there, your shots are just being reflected back, but without something to bounce against, there’s no way you can play solo. Maybe that’s not you, but it is a lot of people.
These recent AI developments are the discoveries of the decade. Let folks have their hype.
I think it’s actually not a bad thing if there are ‘too many’ posts around a particular piece of tech. If something sticks for a while I usually take it as signal to investigate. Other things have a brief moment of hype but don’t actually stick around too long if you watch the ebb and flow.
Instead of getting upset, consider spending less time on here. :)
I prefer/recommend not to use the "hide" button too much in the front page, but in some case you can use it for a week if the ChatGPT posts get too annoying.
But on the other hand, no. This is actually a significant technological development that has real implications, positive and negative, for our entire society. It's not some BS nonsense like blockchain. This is almost as big as the rise of smartphones. We need to be talking about it.
But I'm worried when it gets to the point where a future ChatGPT is no longer that unreliable, and then millions of people given that hammer will feel justified enough to keep ranting about it and injecting it into every random forum thread and comment section forever just because it's possible for them to.
Yes, I'm tired of it, because it's not an endgame tool but many treat it like it is. And I have a feeling I'm going to get even more tired of it the more it improves - that is, the more people it's able to convince it's no longer bullshit.
But here's the thing, that little anecdote perfectly exemplifies the excitement and novelty surrounding language models like ChatGPT. Sure, some of the answers generated might seem like "smart sounding bullshit," but that's part of the charm! We're still discovering the capabilities of these models, and it's exhilarating to imagine what else they might be able to do in the future.
So let's not get tired of the ChatGPT headlines. Instead, let's continue to engage in discussions and explore the potential of AI technology. The future is full of opportunities, and language models like ChatGPT are going to play a major role in shaping that future. Who knows, maybe one day they'll even be able to write their own hilarious chicken crossing the road jokes!
There is nothing intelligent about ChatGPT, it's just a statistical trick, no understanding, no unique ideas. It's this years's self driving car.
Speaking of which, I'm been waiting for my self driving car since 1982. At this rate better make it a hearse.
(kind of a plug, I haven't updated the Repo in a while and just run it locally).
Plus, on a different note, I fear this mega hype will eventually reach those that decide in a company, and most of them in my experience do not possess proper technical knowledge, which will trigger them to buy shitty AI-generated/based products because of their obsession to save costs, scale a company and replace people.
The way I see, medium/big companies do already or will personalize this AI for their own domains and package it to the end users which will have to interact not anymore with a human but with a machine that can't yet reason very well.
How often do we complain that "algorithms" deleted an account and all that? I imagine chatGPT will make all this and much worse available on a much larger scale.
This is also why I find these articles pretty annoying.
As an AI language model, I don't have feelings or personal opinions. My purpose is to assist and provide information. If you're feeling overwhelmed by ChatGPT headlines, perhaps take a break and come back later.
Like CNet generating their articles with ChatGPT... from the few times I've read CNet lately, I bet that didn't change their article quality one bit. They were blogspam, they stayed blogspam.
At first, they were all in the format of "I asked chatGPT to write a blog post, here it is" and "I used ChatGPT to talk to my mom so I don't have to"
Then it quickly moved onto people pushing out prototypes "Use ChatGPT to generate pick-up lines" and "ChatGPT as a therapist"
And now, more recently, it's all about taking down ChatGPT. ChatGPT is flawed, ChatGPT can be detected, ChatGPT is a dirty liar, or some other library is better than ChatGPT.
I’m sick to death of seeing the concentric circles of HN readers parroting the same critiques of ChatGPT over and over again. “It’s a language model!” they’ll say, and with each iteration there’s a higher chance that the person that writes that has no idea what the implications are. The comments usually end with a hand-wavey explanation as to how ChatGPT having flaws means that it won’t be remotely disruptive. There’s usually some weird elitist / classist vibe to the comments (effectively: “none of the jobs that actually matter will be impacted”). Then there’s some other hand-wavey blah-blah said about creativity. As if the typical HN user, myself included, isn’t a rank and file software developer / manager at Tech Company 1527.
The funniest thing about it is that these comments are all written presumably at least in part because the writer thinks that they’ll provide value. You wouldn’t even need GPT-3 to construct one of these comments. Previous-generation models could do it.
I work in the education sector. I’ve no doubt that ChatGPT et al are going to have a long-term impact on the product that I work on. There are always kids that want to find ways to cheat. Before I get lectured by someone with absolutely no relevant experience: ChatGPT can write wholly believable essays in various genres.
We’ve all been worn down by AI hype for years and years now. We’ve especially been worn down by all of the Elon-bait around FSD. To let that evolve into “be unproductively critical of every AI advancement” is…not original thought.
I’m sick of the recycled BS ChatGPT think-pieces yep. But they’re no different to the comments that put them in the front page, including my comment. They’re also no different to a bunch of BS thinkpiece articles on HN.
It's certainly entertaining, albeit Midjourney is more exciting imo, but there are far more challenging problems in the field of Computer Science and sciences in general than NLP.
“ChatGPT but for whatever” will probably be the most effective way to separate venture capitalists from their money in the near future, much like “crypto for whatever” and “Uber but for whatever” and “an app but for whatever” in the past.
Unrelated, the irony of this post made me chuckle. By posting this, you're adding to the ChatGPT "headlines".
People see it as the second coming of Christ, as the Google killer, as a disruptor of educational systems, etc. when all it is is something that's good about making bullshit look legit.
AI has always followed a cycle of hype and then total lack of interest when people realize it's empty promises. ChatGPT isn't changing that.
personally, I like it and see it as a big win for reality where tech at least from my perspective of an average joe seemed to stagnate for years..
Yes, trends are usually not very "deep" or intellectually enriching.
Thanks to Firefox + uBlock Origin, _the name of the CEO of Twitter and SpaceX_ name has completely vanished from my everyday browsing.
I can do the same for ChatGPT. Or any other thing or topic that swtiches from initial hotness to constant noise.
edit: it is so effective that if even affects my own commenting here. I had to replace its actual name by "he name of the CEO of Twitter and SpaceX" to be able to post my reply.
Just waiting on that bubble to burst.
Some people may be annoyed by it I suppose, same as people get annoyed when they see new JS frameworks/libs.
If you don't notice how much money-momentum is behind it, you're burying your head in the sand. I think it's an interesting time because we are seeing how the market squeezes value out of emerging technology.
It's an amazing tool nonetheless.
Anyone remember that voice conversation app everyone was pushing and I can't even remember its name?
edit: Clubhouse
Yes, ChatGPT is largely overrated. Yet it is still a modern marvel. It WILL change the world.
But most of the stories about it are still garbage and I'm very tired of endless breathless and misleading headlines.
Anyway, Chinese balloons are infinitely more important.
What problem domain do you use it in that you find underwhelming?
The answers were "...it is not scientifically proven" BS.
Something I already proved with my own life, GPT is not willing to answer and risk its good, politically correct name for.
Google is here for stay until people are ready to give up spoon fed BS
Though I'm not sure it's quite as bad as the countless Wordle headlines from a couple years ago.
I have genuinely found it incredible in certain situations. I don't feel like I am getting as much value from it as others might be so for the moment I like the discussion
that's most of the ML/AI community
There are some tropes that need to go away, though. Most of them some form of lame middlebrow dismissal.
- "It doesn't actually understand": nobody outside of a small niche cares how the sausage is made, you are not making a substantive observation that hasn't already been made by 100,000 other people.
- "Most of the answers are bullshit": factually incorrect and the growing sidebar of my chat history with it can prove as much.
- "Okay if not bullshit then so riddled with errors as to not save any time or be useful" see above.
I would suggest that people who have such a hard time with content they are not personally interested in to make use of the hide button rather than spewing hate all over every related thread.
Paul Graham (PG) walks onto the stage, the audience applauds.
PG: Thank you, thank you. Good afternoon everyone, it's great to be here today to talk about AI. But today, I want to focus on a specific type of AI that has taken the world by storm - ChatGPT.
Cut to:
INT. NEWSROOM - DAY
A JOURNALIST is typing away on his computer. He looks up, frustrated.
JOURNALIST: (to himself) Another day, another set of ChatGPT headlines. I mean, what's not to love?
Cut to:
INT. CONFERENCE HALL - DAY
PG: Now, I know what you're all thinking. "Oh no, not another ChatGPT talk." But I want to give you a different perspective.
Cut to:
INT. DINNER PARTY - NIGHT
PG, surrounded by friends and colleagues, is holding court.
PG: You know what, let me tell you a story. I was at a dinner party the other night, and someone brought up ChatGPT.
FRIEND: (excitedly) Oh, I love ChatGPT!
PG: (smiling) Well, I decided to have a little fun and ask the model some absurd questions. And you know what it responded with?
FRIEND: What?
PG: (grinning) "Why did the tomato turn red?" "Because it saw the salad dressing!"
Everyone at the table erupts in laughter.
Cut to:
INT. CALL CENTER - DAY
PG is observing a customer service representative at work.
PG: (to himself) And then there was the time I watched a machine powered by ChatGPT resolve an issue faster and more efficiently than any human representative.
CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE: (smiling) Well, it looks like ChatGPT has done it again.
PG: (nodding) Indeed.
Cut to:
INT. CONFERENCE HALL - DAY
PG: So, instead of complaining about the constant stream of ChatGPT headlines, why not embrace the excitement and keep pushing the boundaries of what's possible with AI technology? The future is a blank canvas, and it's up to us to paint it with the limitless potential of AI. And who knows, maybe one day, these models will be able to write the next great American novel, or maybe even perform open-heart surgery. The possibilities are truly endless, even if it means cracking a joke or two along the way.
The audience erupts in applause, and PG takes a bow. The scene ends.
So no, more crazy MVPs and open source libraries please
every moderately large news organization has been using A/B testing for over a decade to choose how to present the headline, with sometimes tens or hundred of possibilities being quickly swapped out/tested as people click, training "models" for presenting the most catchy headlines
now we just have a 'confidence percentage' before actually publishing
It literally does not "know" or "understand" what is true or false. It is just capable of imitating true-sounding things (which often happen to be true). That's a massive difference, and it's dangerous that people take what it says as true.
"I asked ChatGPT this question and now its my medium column"
etc etc
It just seems at the moment that most of the content is like that.
We have created intelligence. We aren't alone in the universe anymore. At this stage, it's still an "incredibly well-read moron", but it's still intelligence.
Thanks to Firefox + uBlock Origin, "Elon Musk" has vanished from my everyday browsing.
I can do the same for ChatGPT. Or any other thing or topic that swtiches from initial hotness to constant noise.
Just vote and move on, hide the submissions if you have to.