There’s even better services like Soulseek and rutracker!

They are certainly trying to kill local models and personal computing. I just don’t think it’s possible.

What code does is the least intetesting part of it for you?

Idk, AI use doesn’t automatically make something slop just like writing by hand doesn’t automatically make it good.

Open source developers do not have the power to enact change. AI needs regulation which must come from governments.

Definitely agree with a lot of that. Indeed in this era of abundance why do we need to squeeze more and more out of everything.

However computing has been one of the most valuable inventions of all time. A script is usually written to automate a process. If the script doesn’t work, it’s useless. Not all disciplines are the same. The value of the code is what it does.

You can certainly talk about the horrors of AI under capitalism but i don’t think open source developers should have to think about it. I’d rather they make software better for everyone than get tied up thinking about how to solve the impossible.

In the long run you’d imagine that GPUs will become more affordable once these massive datacenters have been built. At that point it becomes far more profitable to run your own hardware. Especially if these AI companies need to increase their subscription prices by x10 to finance all this debt they’ve taken on.

Yeah AI is here to stay but these “founder” companies sure aren’t.

Yeah but that’s art. Code is very much a means to an end. Code can be artistic i suppose but it does actually have to do something at the end of the day. And if it works it works.

I do agree. It’s a pretty shit tool because you can’t trust it, it makes mistakes, and you’re not in complete control of what it does.

And yeah maybe it’s more like a service when you’re using it for ready-made stuff.

I think it depends on use case and intent. Calling it a tool is perfectly valid in some cases. For others it acts more like a torment nexus.

But can a torment nexus be used as a tool? Probably, but that’s supervillian shit lol

I can see where you’re coming from. But for me, randomness in the output doesn’t affect whether i call something a tool or not.

From the Cambridge Dictionary:

Tool - something that helps you to do a particular activity.

I use LLMs to help me code at work. Maybe you can use an LLM in a different way where it’s not longer a tool but it definitely can be called a tool!

Why not? To me that’s just what the tool does.

You can chop off your arm with a chainsaw.

Tools don’t have to be safe. They don’t have to protect you from mistakes.

Why is an LLM not a tool?

But even if you configure a 3D printer properly there’s still a chance the output will be flawed.

Just because you can’t trust the output doesn’t mean it’s not a tool. If you expect it to do exactly what you want you’re using the tool wrong.

You use the LLM to help you build the system that does exactly what you want every time. LLMs are just a tool to help you get there.

Yeah completely agree with that but i don’t see how capitalism can stop open source. Capitalism runs on open source!

Of course, an LLM is a probability machine which outputs the most likely next token based on the tokens you give it.

I’m not sure why that doesn’t make it a tool though. The output of this probability machine can be useful if you know what you’re doing.

Yeah i agree with most of that but you are in control of what you do with the output. If the output is full of mistakes you don’t notice, that’s on you and you have used the tool poorly.

Blindly trusting the output of an LLM is not using the tool properly.

I just don’t know if that’s true. Yes there are vibe coded projects everywhere but most of them can be ignored. They don’t really have a bearing on the popular stable projects. Those projects will continue to be developed and as long as they don’t accept vibe commits the quality won’t go down.

I don’t know how open source could be labelled unsafe when the code is there for everyone to see. Yes Google is trying to lock down Android but that’s not an AI problem, that’s a capitalism problem.

Even then, i can’t see how corporations could kill open source. They can never stop people using their free time to develop code and releasing it under GPL.

Disagree. What would you call a 3D printer? I’d still call it a tool. Even though I don’t wield it or hold it in my hand. You tell it what you want to do and it builds something physical for you.

There is skill involved in 3D printing. Incorrect instructions lead to poor results. There are many variables to consider and you learn how to manage them the more practice you get.

What would you call a test framework? Something that can run your software tests and present information in a coherent way? I’d call it a tool. I use the testing tools available to me to speed up and improve my code.

LLMs are the same. You give it instructions and do something with the output. The difference is that the LLM can also use you as a tool. It will give you instructions and ask for results. But LLMs are not perfect. They will give you incorrect information. They will lead you down dead ends if you don’t know what you’re doing.

This makes LLMs quite difficult to use. You need knowledge in the subject you’re asking it about and you need to be skilled at using the LLM to acheive good results. A lot of people don’t have either.

You need to be strong enough to wield a chainsaw, you need to be smart enough to wield an LLM. They are both tools.

How?

Indeed! It’s more inportant than ever to switch to open source software, which is why i dont see the point in placing restrictions on developers.

If there’s loads of crazy GPUs sitting around for low prices i’d bet people would create adapters for home use. Even if it can only be used for AI, we’d be in the golden age of local inference.

GPL is a response to copyright laws. If there were no copyright laws we wouldn’t need GPL.

Prohibiton doesn’t work. Regulations need to passed by government bodies not open source developers.