Generative AI

We are all products of what has come before us, but it’s by living our lives in interaction with others that we bring meaning into the world

I can see a time once the hype has settled down, and we all see whether AI is truly capable at a practical, day-to-day level, where we realize that the control still remains with the humans. Just because everyone has a camera on their phone, doesn’t mean everyone takes great photos. That still requires skill, experience and above all, taste.

The programmer Simon Willison has described the training for large language models as “money laundering for copyrighted data,” which I find a useful way to think about the appeal of generative-A.I. programs: they let you engage in something like plagiarism, but there’s no guilt associated with it because it’s not clear even to you that you’re copyi... See more