I love LLMs, I hate hype
TLDR Dev
A programmer who has worked in AI since 2014 expresses enthusiasm for LLMs and AI progress while criticizing hype narratives about imminent superintelligence and doomsday scenarios that he views as fear-based marketing. He argues frontier AI labs' valuations are inflated because they capture less value than general computing improvements suggest, and contends that major progress stems from Moore's law rather than their specific work. He notes that while coding models won't replace programming, they function as new tools like compilers or search engines that shift the skill set required, improving productivity as another phase of the computer revolution.
Why it matters
While AI and LLMs are exciting, the pervasive negativity and hype suggesting a looming catastrophe makes AI have a worse reputation, with AI's progress driven by foundational improvements in computing rather than specific entities.
