> It’s certainly possible that AI is being overhyped, and I think in some cases it definitely is - but being tired of hearing about it in no way correlates to its actual usefulness.

Please tell that to all types on HN who downvote anything related to Rust without even reading past the title. :D

> In other words, lot of people seem to think that human attention spans are what determine everything, but the technological cycles at work here are much much deeper.

IMO no reasonable person denies this, it's just that the "AI" technology regularly over-promises and under-delivers. At one point it's no longer discrimination, it's just good old pattern recognition.

> Personally I have used Midjourney and ChatGPT in ways that will have huge impacts on many activities and industries. Denying that because of media trendiness about AI seems shortsighted.

Some examples with actual links would go a long way. I for one am skeptical of your claim but I am open to have my mind changed (f.ex. my CFO told me once that ChatGPT helped him catch several bad contract clauses).

I don't understand how someone could think that ChatGPT or Midjourney aren't going to radically change many, many industries, and frankly to think this just seems like straight up ignorance or laziness. It's not that hard to find real examples of this stuff.

But if you insist...here are two very small examples from my personal experience with AI tools.

1. I work as a technical writer. Recently I needed to add a summary section to the introduction of a large number of articles. So, I copied the article into ChatGPT and told it to summarize the piece into 3-4 bullet points. Were I doing this task a few years ago, I would have read each article and then written the bullet points myself – nothing particularly difficult, but very time-consuming to do for dozens of articles. Instead, I used ChatGPT and saved myself hours upon hours of mundane work.

This is a quite minor and mundane example, but you can (hopefully) see how this will have major effects on any kind of routine text-creation.

2. I am working on a side project which requires the creation of a large number of custom images. I've had this project idea for a few years, but previously couldn't afford to spend $20k hiring an illustrator to make them all. Now with Midjourney, I am able to create essentially unlimited images for $30-100 a month. This new AI tool has quite literally unlocked a new business idea that was previously inaccessible.

Responding emotionally by using words like "ignorance" and "laziness" undermines any argument that you might think you are making.

Have you considered that you getting almost angry at somebody "not seeing the light" means you might hold preconceived notions that might not hold to reality? You would not be practicing critical thinking if you are not willing to question your assumptions.

It seems your assumption is very standard: "revolution is just around the corner, how can you not see it?".

OK, let the revolution come and I'll apologize to you personally. Ping me when it happens. For real. But make sure it's an actual revolution and not "OMFG next Midjourney can produce moon-scapes!", okay?

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RE: 1, cool, I heard such success stories and I like them. But I also heard about executives flunking contracts because they over-relied on ChatGPT to summarize / synthesize contract items. I am glad it's making progress but people are being people and they will rely on a 100% fault-free AI. If that's not in place yet then the usefulness drops sharply because double-checking is even more time-consuming than doing the thing by yourself in the first place.

RE: 2, your side projects are not representative of anything at all. And I for one recognize AI images from a mile away and steer clear of projects that make use of them. Smells like low-effort to me and makes me wonder if the author didn't take other, much more fatal, shortcuts (like losing my information or selling my PII). And yes I am not the only one -- before you attempt that low-effort ad hominem technique.

I was not convinced by your comment, very little facts and it mostly appeals to the future that's forever just around the corner. Surely as an engineering-minded person you see how that's not convincing?

You asked for examples, and I gave you examples. I didn't claim AI revolution was around the corner, I just said I used them in these small ways that clearly will have big impacts in their respective areas.

My experience is in no way unique, and yes, I think it's just laziness or ignorance to think otherwise. Or in your case, a kind of zealous hostility as a reaction against hype.

I remind you that my initial comment said that yes, there are some aspects of AI that are definitely over-hyped, but that I have used the tools in ways that obviously seem to have huge economic impacts.

P.S. - if you were more familiar with AI image makers, you'd know that it's not difficult to make images that are indistinguishable from non-AI ones. But that's really not relevant here, because my point was that this new tool enabled me to create something that didn't exist before – not what your personal qualms were about AI images.

a stick for carving in the dirt enables you to create something that didn't exist before. there's nothing special about that stick.

If the stick enables you carve more complex things in a cheaper way than the previous tool, then yes, the stick is special. Unless you’re suggesting that a pencil and the human finger are exactly the same?

This is quite literally the entire history of technology: what was once expensive becomes cheap and then unlocks new developments. Bizarre that I have to point this out when you’re likely reading this comment on a device made of commoditized components that cost a fraction of what they did a couple decades ago.

> If the stick enables you carve more complex things in a cheaper way than the previous tool, then yes, the stick is special

Yeah it does that, in 2-3 areas, those we need the least -- who cares it can replace artists? We need elder people care! We need automated logistics! And a tons of other things.

"It's just the beginning" yeah yeah, but it's not. It's actually the next AI plateau that the area will need a long time to move on from. Please do quote me on this, I am willing to apologize if I am wrong after 5-10 years.