Post #3895656

2026-07-17 18:34 UTC

Something that I didn't realize wasn't universally known, but it apparently isn't. That idea that you're being "left behind" or "staying in the stone age" if you don't start using AI? It's not real. I know that it feels real, and like it's everywhere around you, but it's not. You are intentionally being made to feel this way. This is a propaganda technique that was perfected in the cryptocurrency/NFT industry, using FOMO and peer pressure to draw you into investment scams because it seemed like everything around you was starting to adopt it. But that was still a pretty limited scale. AI companies do the same thing, except at a global scale. That's why there's the constant claims about what AI models can supposedly do, that are debunked two days later. And why everybody talks about how much money they're putting into it. And the constant doom trolling about how AI will 'take over the world'. The whole point of all of this is to make it *feel* inevitable, to make it feel bigger than it really is in everyone's lives, to make you feel like everyone *else* is accepting it and you're the only weird old fossil who doesn't like it. None of it is real, even if it feels that way.

Replies (7)

@mdfranz@infosec.exchange 2026-07-17 21:52

@joepie91@fedi.slightly.tech if not having it is keeping you from getting a job and if having it causes you to get more job inquiries than those who don't "keep up" it's real enough.

Open ##3896113
@yoasif@mastodon.social 2026-07-17 21:25

@joepie91@fedi.slightly.tech And even if it were, if it is truly the manna from heaven as described, why do we even need to train for it? The main UI is conversational and it is the manna from heaven. Anyone that has used a phone in the last decade should be just as capable of using them as Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, or even Donald Trump.

Open ##3912593
@yuubi@furry.engineer 2026-07-17 23:47

@joepie91@fedi.slightly.tech i had gotten some Looks by saying "you don't want to miss the next web3"

Open ##3912595
@lucflow999@synapse.cafe 2026-07-18 01:53

@joepie91@fedi.slightly.tech don’t use it, generally outperform weak coworkers who do use it and act as a resource to fact check the hallucinations and bullshit it spits out because they can’t tell the difference. It’s a tool that is useful for large data pattern recognition…but it’s not replacing expertise anytime soon.

Open ##3912596
@Iveyline@mastodon.nz 2026-07-18 05:34

@joepie91@fedi.slightly.tech There has been so much hype and so little delivery. The stock market is getting nervous about US AI companies, especially as China is catching up fast and delivering far more vost effective and open AI tools. Some people are going to lose a lot of money because they forgot the US has less than 4% of the world's population and there are many smart innovators among the other global 96%!

Open ##3912597
@ilia@phpc.social 2026-07-19 15:11

@joepie91@fedi.slightly.tech Every tech cycle comes with its own hype cycle, which lately is mega amplified by social media. Doesn't help there are absolutely massive amounts of money involved & at stake, so there is a real financial incentive to keep it going. That being said, I personally find LLM a helpful tool for development and it is of great use to me. But that's ultimately my perspective & use-case.

Open ##3936720
@teledyn@mstdn.ca 2026-07-25 18:05

@joepie91@fedi.slightly.tech keep in mind the fanboi assertions and days-later debunk each happen on completely isolated channels. When I talk to folks outside the deeply tech crowd, none know any of criticisms, nothing, nada, and so they think I'm a kook, over-reacting to what is 'obviously' fringe paranoid conspiracies. Oddly, Meta properties never cover Critical AI Theory … All I can do is trust in Charles Darwin:

Open ##4093823