Hot take: what most people call AI (large language and diffusion models) is, in fact, part of peak capitalism:

• relies on ill gotten gains (training data obtained without permission, payment or licensing)
• aims to remove human workers from the workforce within a system that (for many) requires them to work because capitalism has removed the bulk of social safety netting
• currently has no real route to profit at any reasonable price point
• speculative at best
• reinforces the concentration of power amongst a few tech firms
• will likely also result in regulatory capture with the large firms getting legislation passed that only they can provide “AI” safely

I could go on but hopefully that’s adequate as a PoV.

“AI” is just one of cherries on top of late stage capitalism that embodies the worst of all it.

So I don’t disagree - but felt compelled to share.

What is success here? The few founders and VC get filthy rich as the larger population dumps their money into Discord stock while the users and teams with limited foresight, who’ve moved their communities to discord, suffer?

I mean yeah I guess that’s the success Cory Doctorow warns us about again and again.

But that’s not my definition of success.

For context I’ve been on the receiving end of an IPO and the founders and investors made out like bandits while a fair number of employees were stuck holding the bags thanks to lock-ins, dilution and over priced shares.