An article in The Wall Street Journal noted that "The AI Revolution Is Already Losing Steam." That link I have just provided is to the title of the article I am referencing. Here is the subhead: "The pace of innovation in AI is slowing, its usefulness is limited, and the cost of running it remains exorbitant."
Let me give you the first few paragraphs, which ably sums up the story:
Nvidia reported eye-popping revenue last week. Elon Musk just said human-level artificial intelligence is coming next year. Big tech can’t seem to buy enough AI-powering chips. It sure seems like the AI hype train is just leaving the station, and we should all hop aboard.
But significant disappointment may be on the horizon, both in terms of what AI can do, and the returns it will generate for investors.
The rate of improvement for AIs is slowing, and there appear to be fewer applications than originally imagined for even the most capable of them. It is wildly expensive to build and run AI. New, competing AI models are popping up constantly, but it takes a long time for them to have a meaningful impact on how most people actually work.
I have been, from the beginning, and I continue to be, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) skeptic. Thus, The Wall Street Journal isn't telling me anything that I don't already think. Maybe you haven't been so skeptical. I have a friend like that, for instance, who has emoted with great gusto on how AI has been helping him in his work. As part of his job, he needs to provide memos about complicated governmental issues. Now, he boasts, he doesn't have to do any extensive individual research or writing himself. He just writes out the prompt, asks AI to provide what he asks for, and then he gets his memo in about thirty seconds. Only minor tinkering is required. It's a great time-saver, he says.
My friend has been working in government for over fifty years. Were AI to give him one of those Artificial Intelligence "hallucinations" we have heard about, he probably wouldn't be fooled. Why wouldn't he be fooled? Well, for fifty years my friend has been doing his own research and writing, and by doing so he has taught himself about the subjects that he has studied. Typing in a prompt doesn't require you actually to do any thinking yourself. So, for a new college graduate, using AI is a surefire way to stunt your own education and abilities.
Surely that's not good? Not the way I think about it, anyway! As I say, I am an AI skeptic.
Just in case you are wondering, this blog posting was not produced by AI. I could have put in a prompt that said, "review the following article published in The Wall Street Journal [providing the link], and then give me a blog posting expressing skepticism about the use of Artificial Intelligence as a way to engage in public discussion about our society, economy, and political life."
I didn't do that. Therefore, what you're getting is what I, actually, think.
Took me more than thirty seconds to write this, too!
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