[mkhattab]

These deal numbers have lost all meaning for me.

There’s been some buzz around the official opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, which I visited last month. That project took 1.1 to 1.2B USD. Double its original budget estimate but still the museum looks fantastic and it feels, tangibly, like it’s worth a billion.

In contrast with all the money spent on AI, it just feels like monopoly money. Where’s the monument to its success? We could’ve built flying cars or been back to the moon with this much money.

[Aperocky]

I've been using AI and so did many people I knew. It's resulted in tangible difference in my life.

It's much less likely that I'd drive a flying car and there is 0 chance that I would be the one going to the moon if we spent the equivalent money on those things instead.

[malux85]

Me too, once you’ve had a lot of practice with it (like anything) and know how to mitigate some of its weaknesses, then it’s a superpower.

I currently pay 200 USD a month for AI, and my company pays about 1,200 USD for all employees to use it essentially unlimited - and I get AT LEAST 5x the return on value on that, I would happy multiply all those numbers by 5 and still pay it.

Domain knowledge, bug fixing, writing tests, fixing tests, spotting what’s incomplete, help visualising results, security review generation for human interpretation, writing boilerplate, and simpler refactors

It can’t do all of these things end to end itself, but with the right prompting and guidance holy smokes does it multiply my positive traits as a developer

[righthand]

> I currently pay 200 USD a month for AI

> and I get AT LEAST 5x the return on value on that

You make $800 by paying OpenAI $200? Can you please explain how your the value put in is 5x and how I can start making $800 more a month?

> holy smokes does it multiply my positive traits as a developer

But it’s not you doing the work. And by your own admission, anyone can eventually figure it out. So if anything you’ve lost traits and handed them to the Llm. As an employee you’re less entrenched and more replaceable.

[malux85]

>You make $800 by paying OpenAI $200? Can you please explain how your the value put in is 5x and how I can start making $800 more a month?

I estimate that the addtional work I can do is worth that much. It doesn't matter that "I do it" or "The LLM does it" - Its both of us, but I'm responsible for the code (I always execute it, test it, and take responsibility for it). That's just my estimate. Also what a ridiculous phrasing, the intent of what I'm saying is "I would pay a lot more for this because I personally see the value in it" - that's a subjective judgement I'm making, I have no idea who you are, why would you assume thats a tranferrable objective measure that could simply be transferred to you? AI is a multiplier on the human that uses it, and the quality of the output is hugely dependent on the communication skill of the human, you using AI and me using AI will produce different results with 100% certainty, one will be better, it doesn't matter who, I'm saying, they will not be equal.

>But it’s not you doing the work. And by your own admission, anyone can eventually figure it out. So if anything you’ve lost traits and handed them to the Llm. As an employee you’re less entrenched and more replaceable.

So what? I'm results driven - the important thing is that the task gets done - it's not "ME" doing it OR the "LLM" doing it, it's Me AND the LLM. I'm still responsible if there's bugs in it, and I check it and make sure I understand it.

>As an employee you’re less entrenched and more replaceable.

I hate this attitute, this is an attitude of a very poor employee - It leads to gatekeeping and knowledge hoarding, and lots of other petty and defensive behaviour, and it what people think when they view the world from a point of scarcity. I argue the other way - the additional productivity and tasks that I get done with the assistance of the LLMS makes me a more valuable employee, so the business is incentivised to keep me more, there's always more to do, it's just we are now using chainsaws and not axes.

[righthand]

> I estimate that the addtional work I can do is worth that much. It doesn't matter that "I do it" or "The LLM does it" - Its both of us, but I'm responsible for the code (I always execute it, test it, and take responsibility for it). That's just my estimate. Also what a ridiculous phrasing, the intent of what I'm saying is "I would pay a lot more for this because I personally see the value in it" - that's a subjective judgement I'm making, I have no idea who you are, why would you assume thats a tranferrable objective measure that could simply be transferred to you? AI is a multiplier on the human that uses it, and the quality of the output is hugely dependent on the communication skill of the human, you using AI and me using AI will produce different results with 100% certainty, one will be better, it doesn't matter who, I'm saying, they will not be equal.

I disagree, I brought all this up because it seems you are confusing perceived, marketed/advertised value with actual value. Again you did not become 5 times more valuable in reality to your employer or by obtaining more money (literal value). You're comparing $200 of "value" which is 200 dollars to...time savings, unmeasureable skill ability? This is the unclear part.

> I hate this attitute, this is an attitude of a very poor employee - It leads to gatekeeping and knowledge hoarding, and lots of other petty and defensive behaviour,

You may hate that attitude but those people will be long employed after the boss sacked you for not taking enough responsibility for your LLM mistakes. This is because entrenching yourself is really the way it's always worked and those people that entrenched themselves didn't do it by relying on a tool to help them do their job. This is the world and sadly LLMs don't do anything to unentrench people making money.

All I am saying is enjoy your honeymoon period with your LLM. If that means creating apple and oranges definitions of "value" then comparing them directly as benefits, then more power to you.

[malux85]

hahaha, for sure! You do you, and I'll do me, lets review in a year, whats your email address? Lets compare

[pphysch]

How certain are you that you need to pay $200/mo/seat for this value?

[whycome]

I’d rather useful AI tools than a flying car or someone else going to the moon.

But I agree that the numbers are increasingly beyond reasonable comprehension

[paxys]

What percent of the world is going to set foot in this museum in the next few years? What percent has used or will use AI tools?

[ahmeneeroe-v2]

>it feels, tangibly, like it’s worth a billion

Lot of feeling going on in this comment, but that's not really how money works.