Meta is axing 600 roles across its AI division

> It's coming any day now!

I'm loving this juxtaposition of companies hyping up imminent epoch-defining AGI, while simultaneously dedicating resources to building TikTok But Worse or adding erotica support to ChatGPT. Interesting priorities.

> ... adding erotica support to ChatGPT.

Well, all the people with no jobs are going to need something to fill their time.

> adding erotica support to ChatGPT

They really need that business model.

I mean, it's a path to "profitability", isn't it?

Charging me for stuff I am not using is why I will sooner rather than later leave google. It's ridiculous how they tack on this non-feature and then charge you as if you're using it.

For ChatGPT I have a lower bar because it is easier to avoid.

Hardly, they are burning money with TikSlop, they don't even know how to monetize it, just YOLO'd the product to keep investors interested.

Even the porn industry can't seem to monetize AI, so I doubt OpenAI who knows jack shit about this space will be able to.

Fact is generative AI is stupidly expensive to run, and I can't see mass adoption at subscription prices that actually allow them to break even.

I'm sure folks have seen the commentary on the cost of all this infrastructure. How can an LLM business model possibly pay for a nuclear power station, let alone the ongoing overheads of the rest of the infrastructure? The whole thing just seems like total fantasy.

I don't even think they believe they are going to reach AGI, and even if they did, and if companies did start hiring AI agents instead of humans, then what? If consumers are out of work, who the hell is going to keep the economy going?

I just don't understand how smart people think this is going to work out at all.

If the AGI is anything like its creators, it'll probably also enjoy obscure erotica, to be fair.

When they came for AO3, I said nothing…

> I just don't understand how smart people think this is going to work out at all.

The previous couple of crops of smart people grew up in a world that could still easily be improved, and they set about doing just that. The current crop of smart people grew up in a world with a very large number of people and they want a bigger slice of it. There are only a couple of solutions to that and it's pretty clear to me which way they've picked.

They don't need to 'keep the economy running' for that much longer to get their way.

> If consumers are out of work, who the hell is going to keep the economy going?

There is a whole field of research called post scarcity economy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-scarcity

tldr; it's not as bad as you think, but the transition is going to be bad (for some of us).

The planet has finite resources, least alone land. And then there is human psychology for hoarding resources.

> for some of us

I've read that before:

“Many men of course became extremely rich, but this was perfectly natural and nothing to be ashamed of because no one was really poor – at least no one worth speaking of.”

The bastards are playing both sides! Employees are expected to be So Enamored that we act like we have an ownership stake. Imagine the type of relationships that working ~18 hour days 6 times a week might offer! Generative Porn would be a welcome escape, probably.

> I just don't understand how smart people think this is going to work out at all.

Thats the thing, they arent looking at the big picture or long term. They are looking to get a slice of the pie after seeing companies like Tesla and Uber milk the market for billions. In a market where everything from shelter to food is blowing up in cost, people struggle to provide/have a life similar to their parents.

How does ChatGPT intend to escape the ire of the christian fundamentalists that have been killing porn on the internet for the past decade?

They're the biggest customers.

Douglas Adams, The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, about the custom planet industry

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/437536-many-men-of-course-b...