| The article exaggerates things quite a bit. At the time of the Internet bubble, there were people pushing for more "free" usage of the Internet, and those that couldn't care less. And it's not like the companies didn't want to take advantage of the Internet, but there was a mismatch between what the companies and the employees had in mind, which mostly boils down * Employees want to use it to do their jobs and make their life easier * Companies want to improve productivity, spend less and make more money. There is some overlap of course, but the problem is where the two clashes. I don't think today it is too much different. I see plenty of people using AI for what they care about, they complain when they are asked to use it for things they fear will make their life worse (like programmers that think they will have to pick up the pieces of vibe coding later on). > As a group, teenagers and young adults hate AI I wonder what is their definition of AI. I haven't seen a single young person saying "I don't use chatgpt (or the like) because I hate AI". If else plenty of student have become dependent on it. |
Anecdotally, I've observed a robust correlation between the cost/quality of the model, and attitude towards it.
Most of the general public, young folks, and old folks (ie outside gen z, millennials, and some X) are using free models, usually what's immediately available (cough copilot cough), have really unreliable results, hear all the hype, experience dissonance, and chalk it up to just hype, and walk away thinking AI is a crock of junk.
The Z/Y/G cohort - the ones that grew up alongside the growth of the internet - seem to be the best adopters. They recognize a system which is powerful, albeit flaky, and know how to extract utility from it without over-reliance. Especially ones with paid flat-rate subscriptions.
The power users - the ones using API/paid (by usage) models, tricking out their claude with plugins, seem to have the least amount of hate, but rather a healthy respect for a powerful disruptor.
I also don't buy the whole "the young'ns have never dealt with barriers of entry to the internet and thus lack the tech skills the millennials developed." I think the internet cohort that adopted tech was always split between the powerusers/curious learners, and the "just get my goal accomplished and get out" folks. I think that's roughly the same percentage of folks in Z/alpha, and these kids are just as savvy and aware of limitations of the tech.