[llm_nerd]

"Crypto VCs & ”builders” making a hard left into AI"

This is a humorous intro graphic caption, but this sentiment appears on here constantly and it's self-destructive. This response might seem a bit over the top to a funny graphic, but I am replying to the general "ha ha AI like crypto amirite?" sentiment that is incredibly boring and worn out.

When confronted with challenging new technology that we don't understand, some knee-jerk to acting dismissive. As if that has any hope at all of changing outcomes.

It's especially weird when people who are clearly on the "I must desperately learn this as quickly as I can and try to present myself as some sort of expert" still incant the rhetoric -- "joking on the square" as it were -- as if they need to defend their prior dismissals. Constantly on here there is yet another trivial "intro to tokenization" blog entry that brays some tired crypto comparison.

Stop it.

The Venn diagram of people at the forefront of ML/LLM, and its advocates, is almost entirely separate from the web/crypto sphere. There is astonishingly little overlap. Crypto was hyped because some people truly saw a purpose, coupled with masses of scammers and getrichquick sorts. AI/LLM/ML is hyped because it is revolutionary and has already yielded infinitely more practical impact than crypto ever did.

[NhanH]

> The Venn diagram of people at the forefront of ML/LLM, and its advocates, is almost entirely separate from the web/crypto sphere. There is astonishingly little overlap

That statement seems false. Especially since this was a headline I saw in half a dozen online news in my country yesterday.

> OpenAI's Sam Altman launches Worldcoin crypto project[0]

If anything, even without taking into account the greed stuff, people who are drawn to fun tech is likely to be drawn to both LLM and cryptocurrency stuffs.

[0]https://www.reuters.com/technology/openais-sam-altman-launch...

[llm_nerd]

Me - "Little overlap"

You - "That's false because I saw a thing about this one guy doing some thing"

Okay...

"even without taking into account the greed stuff,"

What "greed stuff"? It is incredibly hard to make money in LLMs/ML. The barriers to entry are colossal, and it is technically extremely difficult. Everyone keeps talking about all the "grifters" (a go to term that usually means the speaker's arguments can be dismissed) yet there are very, very few people making money in AI. The biggest money maker in AI is nvidia and some cloud providers.

You can't just fork BTC or create a Ethereum contract and spin off another shitcoin and make free money. You can't do a rug pull. You can try to create an incredibly difficult niche solution and yield some excitement, but that's like all of technology ever. Comparing it with crypto is dumb.

"people who are drawn to fun tech is likely to be drawn to both LLM and cryptocurrency stuffs"

Loads of people who like to know what's up became acquainted with both. Sure. Understanding tech makes sense. And a lot of us learned crypto, realized it had extraordinarily little real-world utility or benefit, and moved on.

[obiefernandez]

I can assure you that the smart folks running daily AI newsletters are currently raking in money hand over fist. It’s awe inspiring.

[llm_nerd]

Such as? Can you give some examples?

There are some very smart people working incredibly hard, yielding some rewards from it. It is a tiny, tiny set.

[obiefernandez]

Recently paid 500 usd to TheresAnAIforThat for one link in their newsletter. They feature at least 5-10 per day. Decent money for a one man operation that’s “generated by AI”

[uhtred]

I think when the dust settles we are just going to have some chat bots and a few rich grifters.

[wilhelm____]

On the contrary, I agree - while there is certainly hype being generated around AI, particularly generated by the "VC hype cycle", the fundamental advancements we've made with LLMs are quite real.

Part of the reason I wrote this is to separate the signal from the noise and why one should be {cautiously, more tempered} optimistic in the medium term.

[Lich]

> "ha ha AI like crypto amirite?"

I don’t think that was the meaning at all. I think the image was supposed to convey how the crypto grifters and con artists were veering into AI to run scams under the guise of AI.

[wilhelm____]

^^ yes