The author expresses awe at the rapid progress in AI, particularly generative AI, feeling that we're on the verge of transformative changes across industries, drawing parallels to past technological revolutions.
I've been feeling this for the past week and wanted to come here to the reddits to see if anyone else feels the same. It feels like we've gone so far in just the last month alone, with the hacks, astra, fable 5.1 etc, that my head is literally spinning. I was just telling my friend that the last time I can remember feeling anything like this, it was the first week of covid, where it felt really chaotic and like the world was about to change really fast. This feels so much bigger than that though - this feels like everything we know (or at least, so many industries) are on the verge of being changed forever. It's mainly because just in the last few weeks/months, it seems like generative AI has gone from [text/image/video] to [just about anything you could fucking want] real quick. rendering hyper detailed blender images, creating ultra intensive apps, making fucking video games with a single prompt that actually look like they'd be fun to play in like... 5 more prompts. It's absolutely fucking bonkers and I just wanted to come where to see if anyone else feels the same. I mean, for fucks sake, does anyone remember the will smith spaghetti videos? the AI spaghetti videos? That was just a few YEARS ago... just look at where we are right now, and imagine, if you even can, where we might be a DECADE from now (if we're even still here, according to all these AI whistleblowers, who I actually tend more to believe than not)... I mean I'm just so mindblown it's insane I remember an interview where sam altman described AI now as being similar to electricity when THAT was invented - at the time, it must've seemed like magic - impossible - today, nobody even THINKS about electricity - we just plug and play. I think in a decade or two from now, AI will be so good that it will be absolutely preposterous, and we won't even think about it, ever. It'll be in our websites. Our homes. Our apps. Maybe even our brains at that point. Just wow. wow. wow.
The author discusses their conflicted feelings about the rapid advancement of AI, expressing excitement for future abundance but fear of societal disruptions and personal insecurity during the transition period.
The author reflects on how AI milestones like passing the Turing test and GPT-3's capabilities have been quickly normalized, urging the community to appreciate the current moment of AI advancement towards AGI.
Elad Gil reflects on the accelerating pace of AI progress, linking to a review of Charles Stross's sci-fi novel Accelerando, which explores singularity themes.