AI backlash isn't like any other tech backlash
I keep getting comments from people who say: "People opposed computers in the 90s. Opposition to AI is just the same. These people are opposed to technology." I find this horrendously clueless because it has no sense of proportion attached to it. Since I am from the 90s myself, I wrote a comment to explain the differences today. Sharing it below.
The question I am answering is: Vimoh, why your concern about AI is not same as 90s people used to think about computers?
Computers are reliable. AI is not. Computers give you consistent and reliable results. AI is fundamentally unreliable and this has been shown to be true in multiple major and minor institutions and companies by now.
Computers were not replacing human beings, simply moving them from one kind of job to another. AI is ending human employment as a concept. AI company CEOs are OPENLY saying they want all human jobs to go away.
Computers created a lot of jobs. Most of us today are working because of computers. AI is creating no jobs. Even AI data centers don't employ more than a few hundred people.
Computers didn't destroy the environment the way AI does. AI data centers are leeching off huge amounts of electricity and water supplies that humans need, especially in these times of great climate change. Computers plugged into existing power systems and worked just fine.
Computers were adopted by people because they were genuinely useful. AI is being forced on people in offices. If it was actually useful, people would happily use it. People using AI frequently produce bad or substandard work and that low quality output is becomign a new standard. It's a collective lowering of value.
Computers enhanced creativity and enabled humans to create tons of culture. AI is reducing the value of human culture by turning the entire internet into slop.
Computers were not part of a massive financial bubble. AI is. This has been reported on a lot by now. You can read about it.
Lastly, I am 90s people. I love computers. I remember the issues people had with computers then. It wasn't even remotely anything like what AI backlash today looks like. Anyone telling you it is, don't know what they are talking about.
