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since the dude whose gif i replied to turned out to be a whiny pest who first argued with me about his "joke" and then blocked me, i'm reposting my point in the main thread because fuck that lol.

Someday it will be seen to have been the most extravagantly wasteful consumer of capital in history. And the media will lap it up and then, when it blows up, pretend it contributed nothing to the promote.

For those predicting the demise of the human artist, I would like to observe that the global art market had $68 billion in revenue last year.

Journalists used to be the ones who shamed. They forgot their role. You haven’t, though, which is nice.

“wow, this is like a good PHD.” Altman, in believing that AI software will somehow discover new science, is telling us that he understands nothing about either AI or science.

Doesn't apply to the people you discuss there but it's intriguing to me how if you look at the linkedin profile for a lot of executive types they say they at least worked at a technical entry level at some point, but they all seem to have forgotten everything about everything.

I mean, Jesse Armstrong did think of this. And it was quite effective.

The Time Cube guy was more cohesive and able to back up his understanding in his area of expertise than these TechBro d-bags

A lot about the system is broken. In 2008 Ballmer spoke clearly and was punished for it (MSFT $21>16). This is what they respond to. One only gets punished if one participates in good faith; everyone wants private info for personal advantage. Vacuous nothings or untrustworthy spam is all we get.

i thought this was your best yet 🙏 the Lockheed comparison is really clarifying

I couldn't stop laughing once I got to the numbers section 90% of the investment goes poof! 300bn dollars! It's ten yearly budgets AND the entire debt of my small country, gone in ONE YEAR!!! All of these clowns would have made so much more (more than -90% ROI) by just... paying workers to work.

Not for me thanks

I bought the audiobook - I really need to move it to the top of my listen pile.

It's actually the opposite. Yes, they have a pile of cash, but they need massively *more* to keep the con going, hoping the tech someday catches up to hype. And finance bros everywhere put capital into the bubble and are desperately exposed. They're collectively invested in the emperor's clothes.

It is very clear he doesn’t understand what ‘doing science’ actually entails and how many scientists are using AI to be more productive. Pretty foundational for the claims he’s making.

I just read this excellent piece, and wow. What a bunch of dumbasses.

Need to coin the term Money Idiot because that's what CEOs are these days. They can't even come up with any original ideas because they passed all that thinking stuff over to marketing.

Thanks for writing/ranting this...I've had countless people talk at me about how AI is going to replace doctors...and its just so clearly ridiculous. Propaganda is right

100%

The Jordan Peterson effect

Fun fact: The "T" in PT Barnum was for Tech CEO.

At this point I'm just collecting my paycheck, doing all the dumb things the Business Idiots want, and not caring too much. Cuz that's how I'll survive...

Oh please watch the Ross Douthat video with Peter Thiel. Douthat looks.... uncomfortable. Thiel is a cringey SNL skit. To the bigger point, it's a variation on Tim Walz's theme of Weird that got so much traction before the Dem consultant class decided to knock it down.

So much of the tech media *isn't about tech*, but society-pages-adjacent coverage of something Sam Altman said or "talent wars" - things that are nowhere near as important as the destruction of Search and Facebook or the harms perpetuated by generative AI. www.wheresyoured.at/make-fun-of-them/

Nobody talks about him anymore but Jordan Peterson was very good at this word salad. He seemed smart but when you truly tried to understand what he was saying you realized he had no clue himself of where his sentence was going. But, somehow, no one pushed him too hard to explain his thoughts.

No wonder they're all in on AI. Spitting out "information-adjacent bullshit" is what LLMs do.

Has tech media ever asked any tech CEO "WTF?"? If I were charitable, I would bastardize Keynes and say "Tech CEOs can spew BS unchecked far longer than tech journalists can call them on it and stay employed."

I watched a short clip recently of Meredith Whitaker talking about something AI related and it was refreshing to hear a tech exec who was so grounded and articulate about the situation (aka not a bullshitter).

It’s been my experience that the first person in the meeting to dispense with business-speak buzzwords and just starts to talk about what needs to be done always walks away looking like the smartest person in the room.

Ed, I have a problem with this: I think chihuahuas are generally smarter than golden retrievers

You should direct any doubters to watch Glass Onion on Netflix. It conveys this message so very, very well.

🔥

When you hear a lot of these tech bros talk, you realize how puerile, even infantile, they are.

I agree...it is TIME TO FIGHT BACK!!!

I worked at a tech co where the CEO was a fragile bully who couldn't tolerate pushback or competing opinions of any type.

📌

All right. I’ll bite. As much as GotmyData Spaceboy is wounded, we can’t let him off the hook. I’m building a petty Campaign called Agenda 26-28 and it’s loaded with receipts. I got one “we are going to skip the party this weekend and put USAID in the “Wood Chipper”. Killing 103 people per hour

I appreciate your work but: They don´t "talk like *d*ots". They are Bizarre, outrageous Thank you <3 PS: In my opinion, ableist language is also becoming more common again due to LLMs :( They are full of prejudices against marginalised people. www.verywellmind.com/types-of-abl...

Modern aristocraacy right there.

bsky.app/profile/pixe... They manage to sound like they’re promising much and never deliver.

they say nothing of substance, it’s more like a mystical incantation in a before times language that sounds like mumbo jumbo but magically makes quarterly shareholder value machine go brrrr

As someone who works in tech, it's clear that 1) no one understands what it can do 2) everybody is worried their dip shit boss will think it's good enough to replace them and 3) every dipshit boss is worried it will replace their company.

I'm glad you're writing this stuff. AI is the Emperor's New Clothes, and it helps me feel less crazy when other people notice these guys are fucking naked.

Reading your blog reminds me when I used to work for a bank and would remove all the “u”from favorite” and the like in emails from my British counterparts. They never noticed

The proverbial thousand monkeys with typewriters would come up with more coherent statements than those bozos

Honestly this is the best approach to all fascists and idjuts--laugh in their faces (not behind their backs. Well not ONLY behind their backs).

That’s every exec. More Perfect Union over on Insta did an incredible documentary short on this. Once again, thanks to Reagan.

I don’t think Daniel Gross was part of the deal based on today’s leaks. You may want to update the post to mention that and Nat Friedman.

LOVE IT!..." It’s propaganda, and yes, this is also the case if you simply don’t do the research to form a real opinion."

No no no Ed the CEO is the manchild connected to the money, if you don’t have Mr. Deeds on your team how will Papa Senator Bigbucks launder his startup investments through your firm.

I spend as little time as possible listening to mediocre white men that have nothing intelligent to say.

Make everyone watch #MountainHead and let's get over "they're rich, they must be smart."

They provide rapaciously net negative value to society.

"ridicule as praxis" bsky.app/profile/ldpr...

Like a follow up question that requires no tech or finance background or any remarkable degree of confidence is “are you high?”

Every once in a while someone says something so utterly sane like this and it’s re-orienting. Like we’ve been high out of our minds at a rave vibing to the music and suddenly someone turned on the lights and we realize we’re standing in a filthy warehouse. Thank you is what I’m saying.

There’s a typo in your article “iIf”

Just wanted to say that I appreciate the work you're doing a great deal and that zoning out and reading one or two of your pieces is the only way I've survived Work Mandated Gen-AI Nonsense Hours I've been stuck in.

Me, I don't like bullying. Also me: And yet...