I Think You Might Be Fooling Yourself with AI
The article discusses the potential for individuals to fool themselves into believing that AI tools are making them more productive, when in fact there is no independent scientific evidence to support this claim. The author argues that personal testimonies and anecdotes are not reliable measures of productivity, and that the true cost of AI tools may be higher than users realize. The article also touches on the potential negative externalities of AI, including energy usage, disruption of communities, and theft of intellectual property.
- ▪There is no independent scientific evidence to support the claim that AI tools make people more productive.
- ▪A study found that developers who used AI tools were actually 19% slower than those who did not.
- ▪The true cost of AI tools may be higher than users realize, with some subscriptions potentially costing thousands of dollars per month.
- ▪The author is skeptical of AI due to its potential negative externalities, including energy usage and disruption of communities.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
If you are enthusiastic about AI (LLMs), you may be fooling yourself. Do not consider this an insult, but a kind-hearted warning. Remember what Richard Feynman said: The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool. source (backup) He made this statement as part of the Caltech's 1974 commencement address. In this speech he strongly advocated for proper scientific integrity. I feel it can be difficult to maintain proper 'scientific integrity' on a personal level as AI is a fast-moving target. The tools feel unreasonably capable, using an LLM makes you feel more productive when writing code for instance.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Louwrentius.
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