I disagree a bit. Coding can remain an artistic passion for you indefinitely, it's just your ability to demand that everyone crafts each line of code artisinally won't be subsidized by your employer for much longer. There will probably always be a heavily diminished demand for handcrafted code.
Interesting article! I think I get what the concern is, but I think your view of human cognition is going to heavily color what you think the limitations of an LLM are. For example, if you think that broadly speaking, the human learning process (concept acquisition, inference and concept revision, etc) is modeled by modern LLM training, these limitations might apply to humans in the same sense they do to LLMs.
Systematicity is a really powerful concept that can drive a wedge between classical cognition folks and connectionists/associationists, but it has never been clear to me that we actually instantiate systematic cognitive patterns, only that in some arenas we should.
I can't really imagine any statement they could give that would ease concerns that at some point in time they change their mind. But for now, it is a relief to read, even if this is a bit of marketing. The longer it goes without being enshittified the better.
They could agree to some actual significant negative consequence to running ads. e.g. They could put a clause in the subscription signup process that says if they ever run ads - even if it's only for free accounts - then you get all of the money you've spent back.
Of course I realise they would never do something like that. Buy why not? Well, because they might decide they want to run ads...
HP Zbook Ultra G1a, 128GB RAM. Add SSD to taste. HP supported (Canonical OEM) Ubuntu with KDE. Works great as a daily driver with a UGreen GAN charger.
I can also recommend HP Zbook Ultra G1a. It's probably the closest thing to Macbooks at the moment. It has lower battery life and latest M chips are still faster but it's fast enough for me. The hardware is solid and sw support is great.
I had a similar experience with Derek Parfit's "Reasons and Persons", but he offers some solace:
‘When I believed [that personal identity is what matters], I seemed imprisoned in myself. My life seemed like a glass tunnel, through which I was moving faster every year, and at the end of which there was darkness. When I changed my view, the walls of my glass tunnel disappeared. I now live in the open air. There is still a difference between my life and the lives of other people. But the difference is less. Other people are closer. I am less concerned about the rest of my own life, and more concerned about the lives of others.
When I believed [that personal identity is what matters], I also cared more about my inevitable death. After my death, there will be no one living who will be me. I can now redescribe this fact. Though there will later be many experiences, none of these experiences will be connected to my present experiences by chains of such direct connections as those involved in experience-memory, or in the carrying out of an earlier intention. Some of these future experiences may be related to my present experiences in less direct ways. There will later be some memories about my life. And there may later be thoughts that are influenced by mine, or things done as the result of my advice. My death will break the more direct relations between my present experiences and future experiences, but it will not break various other relations. This is all there is to the fact that there will be no one living who will be me. Now that I have seen this, my death seems to me less bad.’
I think we could summarize all as follows: _everything_ is inter-connected and hence influences its surroundings and hence everything, indirectly. Some connections (in-brain) are stronger/wider than others (human to human etc).
I thought the same thing. I had a spare iMac sitting around so I thought I would kick the tires on it. I realize I could have used something else, but I wanted to give it iMessage access. I have to say, it's just better enough than a few things I have tried to really give me a glimpse of what is possible and make me excited. I am nervous about handing over a computer, my accounts, data, etc to a tireless bot that can destroy my life for a year on accident, but regardless I think this is startling good and fairly polished.
It's only been a few days and I am still exploring, but my household has two adults and three kids all with very busy, individual schedules, and one of the nicest features was setting up a morning text message to everyone with reminders for the day. It checks school schedules, test reminders, sports events, doctor's appts (I am in PT), and adds personal context assuming it has access to it (it usually does). I understand much of this probably could have been done for a while, but this seems like the nicest packaged up assistant that I have tried.
What a wonderful resource The Computer Chronicles has been. One of the core pieces of entertainment I use to fall asleep to when I am on the road and trying to sleep in hotels.
Rest in peace, Stewart.
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