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Comment by alex1sa | Hacker News Reader

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So many execs and marketing people seem to think customers explicitly "want AI".

Most people do not want AI! Only a tiny segment of Middle Managers Looking To Leverage New Technology are actually excited by AI branding.

But, lots of people want software that does magically useful things, and LLMs can do that! Just...don't brand it as AI.

It's like branding a new computer with more processing power as "Jam Packed with Silicon and Capacitors!" instead of, "It starts up really fast!". Nobody needs to know implementation details if the thing is actually useful.

I’ve pointed this out to my VPs. Consumer sentiment shows a strong negative sentiment about AI, especially in unexpected places. Why are we convinced they will like an AI-forward feature?

There was no real answer but I got definite you’re-being-the-turd-in-the-punchbowl vibes.

Stockholder AI sentiment hasn't yet incorporated consumer AI sentiment, it seems.

> Most people do not want AI!

Personally, I explicitly want "not AI"

I'm going to be a curmudgeon that is going out of my way to avoid it as much as I possibly can

I think its a very specific tech/HN bias.

I observe the complete opposite with some of my non-tech friends.

While we are sharing anecdotes and personal opinion:

I think most people don't care too much if its "AI" or not, they just want their problems solved...

Most of my nontechnical friends are either AI neutral, or have a negative AI sentiment. I don’t actually know anybody nontechnical that is enthusiastic about AI.

It's honestly baffling how much the technical crowd has swallowed the AI hype. You would think we would be the ones who know better, but nope

The question is where are all the new apps or features that are _written_ using LLMs, since everyone is 100x more productive now.

I mean, look at the Hacker News feed and you’ll get a pretty good sample of new apps and features written by LLMs.

Are they good apps and features? Ehhhh. But let’s not pretend that they’re missing.

Why did you let an LLM write this comment?

It's aggravating, thanks for calling this out. It's also against HN guidelines to let an LLM edit or write your comments.

> Don't post generated comments or AI-edited comments. HN is for conversation between humans.

Quietly adopting the em dash is the move that humans who know, make.

What makes you say that?

The short repetitive sentences, and the “it’s not x, it’s y” tone

This. So much. Nobody cares whether it’s AI or goblins under the hood. Just like nobody cares about how smartphones or the internet work. The only thing that matters to the majority of user is what it does for (or to) them.

Apple’s marketing was (is?) textbook this.

Also, I’d bet most people building with LLMs don’t care, or even know about, PyPI.

People just don’t learn do they?

It’s truly amazing. This is why I’m not surprised people are ‘blown away’ by llm’s. They were never truly intrinsically intelligent - they were expert regurgitators of knowledge on demand.

Steve already suffered from immense scar tissue of starting with the technology. And yet.. this wisdom blows over peoples minds. More fool them.

> Steve already suffered from immense scar tissue of starting with the technology.

Funny. I just stumbled upon that specific OpenDoc video today.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=oeqPrUmVz-o

That’s exactly what I was referencing :)

Can you name one? Why so coy?

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