this post was submitted on 30 Apr 2024
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Horrifying privacy implications aside, AI has really become the new cryptocurrency.
Don't get me wrong, both technologies are interesting, but it's tiring to see both be forced into applications that functioned just fine without them.
It's arguably worse, since it seems to be more pervasive than crypto and NFTs were at their peak.
Crypto never really hit the mainstream, and even NFTs were still fringe. Whereas AI and AI accelerators are packed into basically every new phone and (Intel) processor.
Regulatory hurdles kept crypto out of most mainstream products. There are no such barriers for AI, and any that are put up may come too late.
There are also more possible mainstream use cases for AI - if the technology works as promised. That’s the biggest for AI currently, and some products like the Humane Pin are already tripping over it.
There are way more uses cases to the average person than crypto so that's only natural. There's also a trust issue with crypto that doesn't exist with AI, as well as losing your money when things go wrong.
That being said, I don't approve of this nor adding it randomly to products where it clearly has little use. If people want generative software, they can just choose to install it.
There's a trust issue here as well since AI only works if you train it and we are training it with our activity, reported to private companies who can do whatever they please with it. I don't trust anything Microsoft does.
I meant more a trust issue in the sense that it's hard for people to feel safe putting their money into crypto. A lot of the coins are scammy and even some of the exchanges don't really look legit.
In terms of privacy and collecting data which is what I feel like you are referring too, the general population sadly just doesn't give a shit. Most really don't care about what's being done with their data.
Why call out Intel? Pretty sure AMD and Nvidia are both putting dedicated AI hardware in all of their new and upcoming product lines. From what I understand they are even generally doing it better than Intel. Hell, Qualcomm is advertising their AI performance on their new chips and so is Apple. I don't think there is anyone in the chip world that isn't hopping on the AI train
Because I was only aware of Intel (and Apple) doing it on computers, whereas most major flagship mobile devices have those accelerators now.
GPUs were excluded, since they're not as universal as processors are. A dedicated video card is still by and large considered an enthusiast part.
Fair enough. Was just asking because the choice of company surprised me. AMD is putting "AI Engines in their new CPUs (separate silicon design from their GPUs) and while Nvidia largely only sells GPUs that are less universal, they've had dedicated AI hardware (tensor cores) in their offerings for the past three generations. If anything, Intel is barely keeping up with its competition in this area (for the record, I see vanishingly little value in the focus on AI as a consumer, so this isn't really a ding on Intel in my books, more so making the observation from a market forces perspective)
You're not wrong that GPU and AI silicon design are tightly coupled, but my point was that both of the GPU manufacturers are dedicating hardware to AI/ML in their consumer products. Nvidia has the tensor cores in its GPUs that it justifies to consumers with DLSS and RT but we're clearly designed for AI/ML use cases when they presented them with Turing. AMD has the XDNA AI Engine that it is putting its APUs separate from its RDNA GPUs
But what about my Web 3.0 AI cryptocurrency in the metaverse?
"An app that lets you make nfts from images created by a camera in the metaverse"
Isn’t that already a thing? That surely has to be a thing already.
Probably already got rugpulled.
Written in rust.
AI what?
AI has uses that aren't about covering your tracks or evading law enforcement. Edit: bring on the downvotes, cryptobros.
I definitely understand your view on crypto, and I hate to be an apologist, but here's a view you may not have considered:
I think mainstream society has gotten far too comfortable with the lack of privacy in our everyday lives, and this extends to finance. A company has no business tracking the data about my purchases, let alone selling it. The government doesn't need to know everything I spend money on either.
As with most topics relating to privacy, it's not that I worry about what I have to hide. I worry about your intention with that information. As one example, if I were needing to buy Plan B for an emergency contraceptive, there is a not insignificant portion of our government and the general population that frowns on that, and could paint me as a target in the future if it was known.
The problem is that crypto is not untraceable like it's fans want to push. There have been multiple instances of it being tracked back and traced, by private individuals and law enforcement. It's just debit card processing with extra steps and massive drain on resources.
Monero exists and is constantly being improved in that regard. And even traceability aside, you're forgetting one massive usecase: unlike debit cards, its usage cannot be denied or restricted.
lol wat? I don't know of a single local establishment that accepts Monero (or any other crypto) as payment (not saying it doesn't exist, but it if so they are exceedingly rare). Seems pretty restricted to me. They also don't seem to accept caps, eddies, gold, or spetims oddly enough.
Local establishments can use cash, so this is not a problem. Problems with cash begin when you try to pay, say, for a domain, or a server.
I am in full agreement with your view on privacy, but I don't think that cryptocurrency is a solution. People far more eloquent than I have already fully described why elsewhere, so I'd just like to thank you for your civil response.
I fully agree, I just think the solution is cash. Use cash for normal payments. Buy a house with 20s even. Ok maybe not that, but for groceries or when you would use Venmo yeah do it
I agree cash is the right idea, for now, but can you say for sure cash payment will be possible forever, or even the next 50 years? Wouldn’t it be better to blunder around with new ideas while cash is still a good fallback? Not saying I like crypto, and the cost on resources and the environment sucks bad, but I can at least appreciate them trying something. Now we just need to come up with sustainable options…
I get that cash seems a pretty durable idea, and it’s lasted for hundreds of years, but it did so before the massive societal turn towards technology we’ve made in the last 30 years.
Crypto is cash for digital world. The only existing analog I can think of is sending cash by mail, which is obviously slow and not guaranteed to.npt be stolen or confiscated on its way.
Not mine. Classic Murica problem, I suppose?
I fully agree. I just also think crypto is terrible for that use case. If you’d be caught for using Venmo for drugs they can catch you using crypto. It might be harder, but that whole public immutable ledger means all they have to do is tie accounts to names. Which coincidentally you need to do to cash out or cash in.
Yes, and no. You do need to cash in at some point, but you don't have to do it thru a public exchange. People do sell physical wallets for hard cash. And even if you do use an exchange, when I last looked into crypto the common currency for drugs (monero) was obtainable on exchanges that didn't have KYC rules. Outside of exchanges, you can also transmit currency directly to other parties, and once you use tumblers and other anonymous platforms, tracking becomes extremely difficult. It's not impossible, but it becomes troublesome enough that unless you're a big fish/crime lord/whatever, the FBI/interpol/whoever isn't going to be bothered wasting resources.
Using Venmo anonymously is much harder than XMR or even BTC, and probably illegal too.
Wait are you telling me that the company that ties a debit card to my name and is owned by the founder of a surveillance company and funder of fascists isn’t secure? /s But yeah, Venmo is the opposite of secure, but it’s filled a specific use case that cash is great for and that crypto often likes to act like it’s good for.
So what would it take for me to trust a cryptocurrency? Stability, wide use, actual security, and low transfer costs and risks. It’s competing with cash and Venmo for use case so it needs to actually compete with them.
I think crypto has more or less shit the bed here. BTC is created by a gold fetishist and is deflationary. The whole of normal people’s perception of crypto is that it’s an investment. There’s also the resource intensity of everything. There’s just so many problems here that cash just resolves.
Yea, crypto is not without its problems. But it is the closest we have to cash for online world. What would you really do when you can't go somewhere physically? Send cash by mail? This is indeed an option in some places, but in other the cash has a high chance of not getting through at all.