Why are people optimistic about AI?
I have now read a couple dozen threads on HN on how AI will free up our time to pursue other more meaningful things. How is that even possible? With what money? What resources? If people lose their jobs, how will they go and explore the world? There won't be UBI because AI is replacing us precisely because it's cheaper than real human workers. So if the incentive is to use AI instead of humans to spend less and make a bigger profit, why would the rich then share their profit with the poor? I know some people chose a career in tech because they genuinely care about the field and are passionate about it, but how can you be passionate about something if you can't make money of it? How will you form a family, feed it etc? Also the middle class is about to go extinct, what's the point of living if you can't get rich (enough) by grinding? And to those that claim AI is here to help, if it can replace so many jobs, what are those people that got replaced going to do? I am currently fortunate to be in a position that is hard to replace as of now, but down the line, let's say in 10 years it will no longer exist most likely as is the case with most intellectual endeavors. In the end it turns out that the people that game the system and get government jobs where they can take bribes and do shady thing to get ahead in life have made the best life choice.
My guess is money. The VC funded startup world seems to be a greater fool game. While there's some legit stuff going on in the field, much of what I see people talking about wrt LLMs is just a way to separate fools from their money.
It's a new enough field, however, that it's hard to keep up with all the latest projects.
So you mix the urge for free money from some corners of the valley with people legitimately not knowing if something is horse manure and it seems like the perfect storm for hype.
If you look at the situation now, there's a small number of plutocrats such as Bezos who have captured most of the important tech workers in a small number of firms. They are building mechanisms that enable control through the smallest number of people possible. AI is just the next evolution in that. Hyper concentration of power. Zuk bought the last election with $400M dollars spent in key places and no one batted an eye. It's just one indication of many of the immense concentration of power going on.