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by thatoneengineer 34 days ago
I'm an early adopter of AI products myself, but I'm always disgusted when I hear this kind of case being made for them. It's fear-mongering, plain and simple. The cloud, mobile, even crypto sounded like "join us in this exciting new world" at their most hyped. Why does AI so often sound like "get on board or you'll be obsolete"?

If the author really is right, that we're heading for a world with a cutthroat binary divide between the adopters and the non-adopters, then I know in my gut which side I want to be on, and it's not his.
1 comments
skeledrew 33 days ago
It's a simple logical proposition though. Either one is using AI in some way, or one isn't. And only those who use it can benefit from it. And we know that there are definitely benefits. Therefore those who avoid it will miss out on said benefits, ie "left behind".
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thatoneengineer 33 days ago
You could have said that about any successful technology ever! But for some reason everyone is anxious to say it about AI while being extremely vague about the benefits. (This is especially funny in the mouth of VPs and the like: "we're not sure what AI means for us, but we urgently need to adopt it so we don't fall behind!") If you want me to get deeper into AI tell me what it'll do for me, don't try to scare me with vague FOMO.
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skeledrew 33 days ago
> successful technology

Heh, I find it interesting that you say this in relation to AI.

As an early adopter and - I assume - continuing user, I'm going to guess that you've encountered some of those benefits, and are anticipating even more over time. You know, which is what really matters. Those VPs et al are primarily bandwagonists who smell potentially more money, and that's all they usually care about. It's a tangent to the benefits, but also a useful one because it helps to keep those who have money invested in investing in AI so there isn't another winter.

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