zlacker

LLMs have changed the world more profoundly than any technology in the past 2 decades, I'd argue.

The fact that we can communicate with computers using just natural language, and can query data, use powerful and complex tools just by describing what we want is an incredible breakthrough, and that's a very conservative use of the technology.

>>torgin+(OP)
I don't actually see anything changing, though. There are cool demos, and LLMs can work effectively to enhance productivity for some tasks, but nothing feels fundamentally different. If LLMs were suddenly taken away I wouldn't particularly care. If the clock were turned back two decades, I'd miss wifi (only barely available in 2003) and smartphones with GPS.

>>foldr+01
You need time for inertia to happen, I’m working on some mvps now and it takes time to test what works what s possible what does not…

>>foldr+01
Indeed. The "Clamshell" iBook G3 [0] (aka Barbie's toilet seat), introduced 1999, had WiFi capabilities (as demonstrated by Phil Schiller jumping down onto the stage while online [1]), but IIRC, you had to pay extra for the optional Wifi card.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBook#iBook_G3_(%22Clamshell%2... [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MR4R5LdrJw

>>torgin+(OP)
I am massively bullish LLMs but this is hyperbole.

Smartphones changed day to day human life more profoundly than anything since the steam engine.

>>torgin+(OP)
That breakthrough would not be possible without ubiquity of personal computing at home and in your pocket, though, which seems like the bigger change in the last two decades.

>>qetern+P5
I'm kinda curious as to why you think that's the case. I mean, smartphones are nice, and having a browser, chat client, camera etc. in my pocket is nice, but maybe I have been terminally screen-bound all my life, but I could do almost all those things on my PC before, and I could always call folks when on the go.

I've never experienced the massively life changing effects of having a smartphone, and (thankfully) none of my friends seem to be those people who are always looking at their phones.

>>torgin+IA1
While many technologies provided by the smartphone were indeed not novel the cumulative effect of having a constant access to them and their subsequent normalization is nothing short of revolutionary.

For instance, I remember the time when chatting online (even with people you knew offline) was considered to be a nerdy activity. Then it gradually became more mainstream and now it's the norm to do it and a lot of people do it multiple times per day. This fundamentally changes how people interact with each other.

Another example is dating. Not that I have personal experience with modern online dating (enabled by smartphones) but what I read is disturbing and captivating at the same time e.g. apparent normalization of "ghosting"...