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Ran across a piece of AI hype titled "Is AI really thinking and reasoning — or just pretending to?".
In lieu of sneering the thing, here's some unrelated thoughts:
The AI bubble has done plenty to broach the question of "Can machines think?" that Alan Turing first asked in 1950. From the myriad failures and embarrassments its given us, its given plenty of evidence to suggest they can't - to repeat an old prediction of mine, I expect this bubble is going to kill AI as a concept, utterly discrediting it in the public eye.
On another unrelated note, I expect we're gonna see a sharp change in how AI gets depicted in fiction.
With AI's public image being redefined by glue pizzas and gen-AI slop on one end, and by ethical contraventions and Geneva Recommendations on another end, the bubble's already done plenty to turn AI into a pop-culture punchline, and support of AI into a digital "Kick Me" sign - a trend I expect to continue for a while after the bubble bursts.
For an actual prediction, I predict AI is gonna pop up a lot less in science fiction going forward. Even assuming this bubble hasn't turned audiences and writers alike off of AI as a concept, the bubble's likely gonna make it a lot harder to use AI as a plot device or somesuch without shattering willing suspension of disbelief.
