[thepasch]

Sometimes it feels like the advent of LLMs is hyperboosting the undoing of decades of slow societal technical literacy that wasn't even close to truly taking foot yet. Though LLMs aren't the reason; they're just the latest symptom.

For a while it felt like people were getting more comfortable with and knowledgeable about tech, but in recent years, the exact opposite has been the case.

[Semaphor]

I think it’s generally (at least from what I read) thought that the advent of smartphones reversed the tech literacy trend.

[Nextgrid]

I think the real reason is that computers and technology shifted from being a tool (which would work symbiotically with the user’s tech literacy) to an advertising and scam delivery device (where tech literacy is seen as a problem as you’d be more wise to scams and less likely to “engage”).

[thepasch]

They’re definitely what started it, but LLMs seem to be accelerating it at a terrifying rate.

[dmix]

This is a tool that is basically vibecoded alpha software published on GitHub and uses API keys. It’s technical people taking risks on their own machines or VMs/servers using experimental software because the idea is interesting to them.

I remember when Android was new it was full of apps that were spam and malware. Then it went through a long period of maturity with a focus on security.