The Future, Now and Thency

AI is real, but the hype is manufactured. A dose of skepticism is helpful for seeing how this story goes.

Casey Newton wrote a piece last Thursday titled “The phony comforts of AI skepticism” that defined two camps: “AI is fake and sucks” vs “AI is real and dangerous.”

But the reason why labeling the entire AI skeptic camp according to our most-glib retorts doesn’t sit right is that people in this camp (myself included) have written plenty of more thorough and serious critiques. We, broadly speaking, think that generative AI is very real and very dangerous, specifically because it does not work as-advertised. (Or, as Brian Merchant once wrote, “I’m not saying don’t be nervous about the onslaught of AI services — but I am saying be nervous for the right reasons.”)

AI is real, but the hype is manufactured.