Given the amount of people on HN happily using LLMs for their everyday work and extolling the virtues of LLMs, "everyone" might be a bit excessive
For those either outside computer culture, or those within who might view "craft" as virtue, automating that craft is an affront.
Right now, the "automators" (pro-AI) folks seem to be pushing that culture onto the "crafters" and naturally getting pushback.
I've said this before, but generative AI proponents are walking into creative spaces with their slop and expecting to be treated as equals despite not sharing any of the same experiences or values; effectively they're trying to redefine what craft is for the original group.
Obviously this is unpopular.
Correction: Shitty automation. You have to do an unreal amount of micromanagement to force the output quality of LLMs up.
I personally like AI, but I'm not very vocal about it. I'm too busy using AI to do things.
Americans are outliers; the rest of the world has a much more favourable view of AI.
> AI optimism surges in Asia, unlike in the U.S.
— https://restofworld.org/2026/ai-optimism-asia/
> U.S. Workers Are More Wary of AI Than Their Global Peers.
— https://www.salesforce.com/news/stories/what-leaders-should-...
> Majorities of Americans have pessimistic views toward the impact of AI on internet disinformation and the job market, outpacing most of the 32 countries surveyed in the Ipsos AI Monitor 2026. Americans were also the most likely to feel AI will make their country’s economy worse. Not every country is pessimistic about AI. Americans clearly are.
— https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/comparing-us-and-global-attitude...
Also from your last link;
> The pessimism isn’t uniquely American. Consistent with international Ipsos polling from 2025, the U.S. sits alongside other countries in the Anglosphere – such as Canada, Australia, and Great Britain – in being more nervous and less excited about the technology.
> Put simply, AI is built on weak social pillars. Despite growing adoption, many feel that AI poses a risk not only to their jobs, but to humanity as a whole. Amid a backdrop of widespread systemic distrust, the technology feeds into Americans’ belief that the economy is “rigged for the rich and powerful.”
> Until Americans feel the upsides of AI clearly outweigh the downsides, views of AI will likely remain negative. If AI is here to stay, so too is the backlash.
I think that last piece is the key part. AI hasn’t significantly improved anything for the average American. It only poses large structural risks. So, what’s to like about AI unless you’re in Asia and stand to gain from it?
Yes, I'm trying to leave. Guess how fun AI has made that process
- The first data point Pew presents is ~50% of Americans use Ai chat bots
- The second data point shows 25% of those using it is for fun and entertainment (1:8 overall)
- 1/4 of Americans use it daily
Krugman lost me when he said "Ai is dishonest" as if it has intent. He makes too much rage bait these days.
https://susam.net/inverse-laws-of-robotics.html
Ai is highly non-deterministic by design, it's a core feature that gives it the capabilities and drawbacks. Don't expect it to be accurate, stay HIL my friends
Otherwise they are going to get bad notions from people like Krugman
Both sides are about winning at all costs and dominating others. Politics should be about compromise, give and take. The real fight is against the oligarchs and Trump-Epstein class.
I do agree that wealth concentration is an issue, and that needs to be addressed.
I push back on the idea that it’s political bipolarization, since that implies the same process is occurring on the left and the right.
Perhaps "bifurcation" is a better word. Not the same process, but both sides seem to be leaning into win at all costs and then dominate the other side. I am involved in my local indivisible and hear this regularly from some of the people.
Certainly the right has been far more effective at the new media landscape. The left talks about it all the time. I find the big voices on the left unappealing as I'm not a super leftie.
Another thing both sides are doing (imo) is primarily talking about all the awful things. Neither is painting a picture for what a better future looks like and how we get there.
They analyzed news stories, distribution, social media sharing, network effects - effectively the works. Frankly it was everything I thought I knew, and then some, all in one place.
It ends up illuminating the reasons/processes why the right has been effective, and how the center and left differ.
> certainly the right has been far more effective at the new media landscape.
I cannot tell you how genuinely relieved I am that this is acknowledged at all. For decades it was assumed that both sides were the same, that CNN was the equivalent of Fox.
If you don’t understand your opposition, and your opposition sets the terms of the competition, it isn’t reasonable to expect a fair competition.
> The left talks about it all the time. I find the big voices on the left unappealing as I'm not a super leftie.
Given how effective the right was at setting agendas, from Tan suits to outright conspiracy theories, it was inevitable that it was going to be emulated.
That said, there are voices and views that are more centrist that will build in time, especially if they understand how to be more competitive in this arena.
> Another thing both sides are doing (imo) is primarily talking about all the awful things. Neither is painting a picture for what a better future looks like and how we get there.
1) Awful things are more efficient items to share and broadcast, so they get produced and shared more.
2) I would push back on the idea that people aren’t selling a pathway for a better future. They definitely are, hence the ICE detention camps, laws, DOGE and other changes they are pushing through.
This may not be appealing to you, but the visions very much exist, and are being realized as we speak.
Discourse, especially around things like AI could benefit from having a term like nullhonest to enforce it is a lack of honesty as an associated concept instead of having zero honesty.