Shit like this is here to stay
Of course. Just like VR, AR, the Metaverse, NFTs, cryptocurrency, and hundreds of other boom-and-bust, hype-cycle remnants. “AI” is a bubble. “AI” will burst. The tech will continue, just without the hype and the cohort wildly over-funded moonshot start-ups.
I look forward to the day when ROI-focused tech executives aren’t trying to cram non-intelligent LLMs into roles where they do not excel. Let people find their own uses, on their own terms for these things. Perhaps someday people will train bespoke, subject-specific ML tools on their laptops in a matter of minutes with a single click, and it will be an unremarkable part of their day. I’d like to see that.
frezik@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 days ago
Really? Companies are going to keep building datacenters that need entire nuclear reactors to themselves without any of that converting into revenue? This is going to to keep going forever in your mind?
brucethemoose@lemmy.world 2 days ago
The power usage is massively overstated, and a meme perpetuated by Altman so he’ll get more more money for ‘scaling’
GPT-5 is already proof scaling with no innovation doesn’t work. And tech in the pipe like bitnet is coming to disrupt that even more; the future is small, specialized, augmented models, mostly running locally on your phone/PC because it’s so cheap and low power.
frezik@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 days ago
Except none of these companies are making money. Like almost literally none. We’re about three years into the LLM craze, and nobody has figured out how to turn a profit. Hell, forget profit, not bleeding through prodigious piles of cash would be a big deal.
brucethemoose@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Nods vigorously.
The future of LLMs basically unprofitable for the actual AI companies. We are in a hell of a bubble, which I can’t wait to pop so I can pick up a liquidation GPU (or at least rent one for cheap).
That doesn’t mean power usage is an issue. In fact, it seems like the sheer inefficiency of OpenAI/Grok and such are nails in their coffins.
MBech@feddit.dk 2 days ago
A lot will fail, sure, but that happens in literally every single developing industry. There are plenty of industries out there that aren’t profitable, but are still going. Tesla wasn’t profitable between 2003 and 2020, yet here we are, where they not only make profit, but they’ve kickstarted the electric cars industry. And that’s despite that they sell shitty cars and their CEO is a nazi.
frezik@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 days ago
What AI companies are profitable? Besides the one selling shovels in a gold rush.
iopq@lemmy.world 2 days ago
They will be profitable in ten years after everything crashes and only a few are left
victorz@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Definitely a bubble to be burst at some point unless we are able to harness energy and reduce waste substantially better than now.