[hiddencost]

I've started to feel like Ed Zitron is actively hurting people I care about.

I'm lucky to have worked in the field for a long time, and be able to spend a lot of tokens. In the last month it's become clear to me that the tech works. The science is done, and what's left is engineering.

There are a lot of risks and mitigations and theory to build, but it's all solvable. The tech isn't mature, but neither was the Internet 30 years ago. And we built transatlantic cables and ran new wires to everyone's house.

People I care about, engineers with 20 years of experience, are having mental health breakdowns, caused by Zitron's work. They insist the tech will never work, and avoid learning about it, becoming progressively more paranoid and isolated. I'm trying to be supportive and help them start to recover, but it's slow going.

If someone is having a crisis about this, I hope they start talking to a therapist. I don't need them to agree with me, but I do need them to not harm themselves.

[vv_]

> They insist the tech will never work, and avoid learning about it, becoming progressively more paranoid and isolated.

They can always learn the technology later, when and if it proves itself to be useful :) I personally don't understand the hype, even after using Claude and other AI tools - but perhaps that will change in the future.

[orwin]

If your company offer 'training' with 'AI expert' and 'prompt engineers', I urge you to attend. It's very gratifying, it cure imposter syndrome, and you will understand who is behind the hype and their technical level.

(And it is already useful, just not as much as some people sell it)

[AlexeyBelov]

Wait, isn't it the other way around? I.e. people infatuated with AI having breakdowns? Multiple such cases were on the front page of HN.

[palmaltd]

Not sure how this comment got upvoted; calling skepticism of an emerging industry a "mental breakdown" and suggesting those "suffering" from it to talk to a therapist doesn't really clear the bar for discussion here. This reads more like a manager being salty that their team isn't using up all the Grok budget this quarter or whatever.

And let it be clear that nobody is being "actively hurt" by legitimate economic/business grievances. This is victim-blaming and disgusting rhetoric.

[v3xro]

There's nothing to recover from, what are you even talking about? I'm not a token user (and I can't make predictions about the future and whether it will force me to use token but still). That the industry is collectively having a delusion about what constitutes good software (in all senses of the word - functionality and consequences for society) is clear to see, something I too fear we might never recover from, but I stand quite clearly on the side of people not of corporations hoping to extract more more more.

[lelanthran]

> They insist the tech will never work, and avoid learning about it, becoming progressively more paranoid and isolated. I'm trying to be supportive and help them start to recover, but it's slow going.

If you are right, and the tech works, both you and them will be continuing this conversation in a soup kitchen.

[butterbomb]

More likely a mass grave

[jubalfh]

nice darvo, mate.

[namcheapisdumb]

> I've started to feel like Ed Zitron is actively hurting people I care about.

lmfao

[relaxing]

The internet 30 years ago worked great, what are you talking about.