ChatGPT's Sad Second Birthday | Hacker News Reader

ChatGPT's Sad Second Birthday

podcastaddict.com

14 pointscarschno9 comments

The headline discussion on the podcast covers whether chatgpt is actually successful. They point to relatively few use cases emerging, and the continual or press around agi. They cover how there is now pressure to build an ads into the platform to build revenue.

Never mind that.

TIL the best podcast app on Android also has an online podcast directory!

What do you like better about podcast addict than antennapod?

I haven't used Antennapod, but I've used Podcast Addict for many many years, probably 10 or more.

I like the default list layout of podcasts and the management of categories and downloads. I've even made a feature request which the author added some years ago.

It meets all my needs and I'm very happy with it.

What’s really sad is seeing people decry the fact that technological improvements lead to social change.

Yes, they do, of course. But from radio to TV to the word processor, technology has made life better, people more productive, and the world a better place [1].

Of course there are exceptions. Ask typists who were laid off how they feel about word processors, or ask lathe operators how they feel about CNC.

The difference here seems to be people working in tech having the epiphany that they are not immune to the effects. The same programmers who wrote word processors and found it easy to dismiss the eradication of the typist role are suddenly very concerned about automation of programming.

It’s not that bad. If you’re willing to learn continuously, you will adapt. If not… well, why should technologists be exempted from the impact of tech advancement? It’s very disingenuous to take a “oh, now that it affects us, it’s gone too far” position.

1. https://wdr2021.worldbank.org/

You don't seem to be replying to the actual take in the podcast. They aren't worrying that it's going to take their job - it's a somewhat snarky lament that none of these transformative changes for the good are happening or are expected to happen, with a real possibility of the "enshitification" of a product that's only been there for two years.

"AI" gets pushed into every nook and cranny of online experience - and to what end?

One aspect of enshitification being forgotten are companies closing off their data (public APIs, login walls, etc.) because of AI scraping to train models.

Yeah, I went a little tangential. I think I’m just triggered by the knee-jerk “it’s AI related so it must be bad / useless / fraudulent” vibe we see too often.

ChatGPT is a great product; it is better now than it was 18, 12, or 6 months ago. Sure, they will seek revenue and profitability, but so what?

There seems to be such a rush to dismiss AI. I don’t get it.

Brian Merchant and Paris Marx are back to celebrate ChatGPT’s second birthday while questioning how OpenAI is really doing as it embraces advertising and the rivalry between Sam Altman and Elon Musk continues to escalate.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com