You Guys Have No Idea Just How Much People Hate Generative AI

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the author's love for technology and the complex relationship many people have with it, particularly in the context of modern tech companies and innovations like generative AI.

🙋 Q&A

[01] The Author's Love for Technology

1. Why does the author love technology?

• The author loves technology because they believe it is one of humanity's most important activities, responsible for much of the accumulated well-being since the dawn of our species.
• The author was trained to think of technology as their ally, and to understand its upsides and downsides.
• The author separates technology itself from the people and companies who steer it, whose motivations may not always align with society's higher goals.

2. How does the author's perspective on technology differ from that of others?

• The author acknowledges that if they had not been taught to love and understand technology, their default reaction might have been to hate it, out of disappointment with the greed and aggressive tactics of tech companies and capitalism.
• The author understands the sentiment behind the visceral opposition some people have towards technology, even if they don't share that view themselves.

[02] Reasons Why People Hate Generative AI

1. What are some of the reasons why people hate generative AI?

• Generative AI is seen as writing poorly, just well enough for scams and spam, and merely regurgitating words others have written before.
• Generative AI systems are resource-intensive, consuming significant amounts of energy and water.
• Adoption of generative AI by non-tech enterprises has been minimal and slow, with little productivity increase or economic growth to show for the high capital expenditure.
• Tech CEOs are perceived as hyping, stealing, underpaying, lobbying, polluting, and extracting, without caring about the public's opinion or acceptance of their innovations.

2. How does the author view the public's perception of generative AI?

• The author believes that the public's hatred of generative AI is understandable, as most people were never taught to love technology, and modern technologists are not doing a good job of changing that sentiment.
• The author suggests that the public's negative perception of generative AI will likely spread to other AI-related innovations, preventing them from flourishing, due to the "unbreakable association" between generative AI and AI as a whole in most people's minds.