Doctorow argues that while the AI bubble is full of fraud, it doesn't mean there won't be anything of value left when it bursts. He suggests that AI could still be useful in certain applications, such as assisting radiologists or accountants in their work. However, he warns against betting on AI replacing human workers and criticizes the high costs of maintaining large language models like OpenAI's ChatGPT. He concludes that the real question is what will be left behind after the AI bubble pops.
Key takeaways:
- Cory Doctorow, a renowned journalist and science fiction author, believes that the AI industry is a bubble that is doomed to burst, similar to the dotcom crisis of the early 2000s.
- Despite the impending burst, Doctorow suggests that the AI bubble could leave something valuable behind, unlike other recent bubbles such as cryptocurrency and NFTs.
- Doctorow criticizes the high costs of maintaining large language models like OpenAI's ChatGPT and the tendency of AIs to hallucinate facts, but still sees potential utility in AI if used to enhance existing tasks.
- He argues that the AI bubble has motivated people to learn about statistical analysis and data wrangling, skills that could be used to solve real problems in the future.