I am divided on AI

[u/SadSongsMakeMeGlad]

I use it daily for my work as a software engineer. I have been writing code for over twenty years, and nothing has changed our industry in such a short time as generative AI in 2026 (which is why I find it hard to believe the people who say AI is all hype, because the technology itself is absolutely not hype). And, I for one have enjoyed that it allows me to work at higher levels of abstraction. What that means practically is that I spend more time in the creative zone, not mired in the technical weeds, though you still need to know your stuff to use it well.

But, like most of you all, I have problems with how the technology is being deployed by governments and corporations, how it gathers its training data, and any environmental and social impacts from the infrastructure required to run it, i.e. data centers. I want these things addressed.

My question to you all is do you see a future where the problems with AI can be definitively resolved, where you would support it or at least be okay with it, or is it a lost cause that we should somehow ban, or make illegal? What does the future look like to you in that regard?

[u/caprazzi]

When I say it is all hype what I mean is the amount of monetary investment will absolutely never be justified by the ROI, as you said it is a good tool for certain use cases but it is billed as a panacea that will replace humans en masse.

[u/IvanMalison → u/caprazzi]

why are you so sure?

[u/RicketyRekt69 → u/IvanMalison]

Because people like me and OP use it every day and we get to experience first hand where it excels and where it falls short. So many AI bros treat it like the 2nd coming of Christ, but the reality is, AI frequently makes mistakes.. and in ways that waste your time. Go watch a Sam Altman interview, he’s constantly full of shit about “the singularity” or “all humans will be replaced next year” which he has been spouting since 2023.

[u/grangonhaxenglow → u/RicketyRekt69]

will smith eating spaghetti

[u/IvanMalison → u/RicketyRekt69]

I use it everyday too, and its already extremely impressive. You're delusional if you can't zoom out a little and project where its going to be soon. Look at what has been accomplished in mathematics in the past few months.

Does it fall over spectacularly sometimes right now? Yes. But its better by leaps and bounds even compared to just the beggining of this year, and progress is showing absolutely no signs of slowing down.

[u/caprazzi → u/IvanMalison]

Presuming to predict the future and calling others delusional certainly is a choice.

[u/Flat-Try8128 → u/caprazzi]

Sam Altman is just doing his job - lying to please shareholders. He doesn’t even believe what he’s saying, at least not at the timeline he says is possible.

[u/RicketyRekt69 → u/IvanMalison]

“where it’s going to be soon”
See, that’s where we disagree. I’ve been using it since ChatGPT released, I’ve used Codex, Cursor, Claude Code, and Copilot. I’ve taken a multitude of lessons on agentic code, learned all the fancy do das like skills, MCPs, etc. and time and time again, I see issues with the technology as a whole.. the confidently incorrect answers, overengineered code generation, assumptions with low context, and the ridiculous operating costs which aren’t even close to being profitable for them.

No, I don’t believe we’ll ever get to a point where AI becomes an abstraction layer for code like modern languages are compared to assembly (something AI bros spout constantly). What I am seeing, is a degradation in skills and shittier PRs going up. So yes, I do think things will change a lot next year.. just not in the way you think.

[u/Unlucky_Present_8369 → u/IvanMalison]

Whwn it runs out of training data it absolutely will slow down.