How AGI became the most consequential conspiracy theory of our time (MIT Technology Review)
The idea that machines will be as smart as—or smarter than—humans has hijacked an entire industry. But look closely & you’ll see it’s a myth that persists for many of the same reasons conspiracies do.
@lproven I've read a lot of compelling arguments about how these LLMs will not achieve AGI. However the goal is AGI and the world is currently throwing about twenty percent of GDP at that goal. It's basically a modern day Manhattan project. With that said I would not bet against achieving AGI at some time in the near future.
@mike I would happily bet that, were I a gambler.
1. You need to look at what the money's being spent on. Energy and GPUs. That won't help.
2. You need to look at what they're building. Bigger LLMs. LLMs are not a posh to anything.
It's a pyramid scheme *AND NOTHING MORE.* It's a scam. Complete and total, top to bottom.
@lproven @mike It will help making a better non-AGI product. While not AGI (good!) they can be useful. And that direction is already profitable (opex-wise, if you stop doing research and scaling). It is financially prudent to expand.
Maybe the promise to VCs are outrageous, but the product itself is solid (and will benefit greatly from bigger buildouts).
I hate LLMs and the crap they sometimes unload on my screen. They're neither a good product at the time, nor seeds for the superintelligence. But the "nothing more" part is just objectively false.
Pyramid schemes have no value beyond pyramiding and scheming. LLMs have the value of arguably better search engines. People are paying real cash to get real skills and tutoring out of them.
