FC/OT: Commencement speaker booed after praising AI as the next Industrial Revolution…

Bkmtnittany1

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It’s never too late to respond to your idiocy. I’m sure you will prove me right in the next few minutes. Tick, tick tick
I am sure you will get a highly educated, well thought out response. How many posters realize he is a complete a**hole? I put the o/u at 700!!
 
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LionJim

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johnmpsu

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The hysteria over AI is ridiculous. The only thing scary about AI is that people will believe it. Garbage In. Garbage Out has never been more true.
 
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bdgan

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This at Central Florida’s College of Arts and Humanities graduation ceremony. What jobs will there be for people when AI does everything?


Automation has killed a lot of jobs for centuries. We could hire a lot of people to dig with shovels instead of using bulldozers but I don't think that's a good option. I understand the concern but the challenge should be for people to position themselves with skills needed for the future. That's going to be difficult for some but what's the alternative? Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez want a moratorium on data centers and AI development. I'm all for making sure the ground and water are clean and that investors pay for their share of the cost for utility infrastructure expansion but a moratorium on technological advancement seems like suicide. If we don't do it other countries will pass us by.
 
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bdgan

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AI is just a fad. In a couple of years, you’ll never hear about it.
Just think of the jobs we could have saved if we would have stopped autopilot on planes?

 

LionJim

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Only just now caught this response. Interesting, will study.

Edit: Timothy Gowers gives a thumbs-up, take that to the bank. Huh. I honestly had my reservations on AI mathematics proofs.
Another issue: budding mathematicians quickly learn the importance of doing every exercise in the textbook. Of this I am sure: there exists online an answer key to the exercises of every classic textbook you can find. (For kicks I’m currently working through the exercises of Atiyah and MacDonald’s Introduction to Commutative Algebra, and, yeah, there’s an answer key. My own proofs are better, just saying.) If you’re not putting in the necessary grunt work, where does that leave you? Graduate school qualifying exams are hard. (Maryland’s PhD program had/has a 50% washout rate.) You’ve got to train yourself.
 
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Midnighter

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Automation has killed a lot of jobs for centuries. We could hire a lot of people to dig with shovels instead of using bulldozers but I don't think that's a good option. I understand the concern but the challenge should be for people to position themselves with skills needed for the future. That's going to be difficult for some but what's the alternative? Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez want a moratorium on data centers and AI development. I'm all for making sure the ground and water are clean and that investors pay for their share of the cost for utility infrastructure expansion but a moratorium on technological advancement seems like suicide. If we don't do it other countries will pass us by.

To what end? Pass us by in what exactly? This isn't innovating a better/more efficient way to do something - it's eliminating the need for human input at all levels (save maybe the top). F Data Centers. Have Elon build them on the moon. No one wants them.
 

bdgan

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To what end? Pass us by in what exactly? This isn't innovating a better/more efficient way to do something - it's eliminating the need for human input at all levels (save maybe the top). F Data Centers. Have Elon build them on the moon. No one wants them.
Of course it's a more efficient way of doing things. Just like ordering fast food on your phone instead of having somebody taking your order. Or online databases instead of encyclopedias.

Do you really think AI development would stop around the world if we stop it in the USA?
 
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Midnighter

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Of course it's a more efficient way of doing things. Just like ordering fast food on your phone instead of having somebody taking your order. Or online databases instead of encyclopedias.

Do you really think AI development would stop around the world if we stop it in the USA?

Who cares? It's a massively expensive endeavor (in terms of dollars, time, and natural resources) and will not make life better for most people on this planet. Also, ordering food on your phone is not same as AI - it's not just automation. It's evolved automation to the point of replacing the need for humans at most levels of employment. This whole manufactured 'race' to stay in the AI game is a scam so that, you guessed it, taxpayers keep footing the bill for this sh*t and so Anthropic, OpenAI, etc. can keep moving dollars around to show that they are worth it. Lately it seems like they're not, given how expensive AI has proven to be (in real dollars).

What are your thoughts on AI as a utility, as proposed by Sam Altman?

 

Binder74

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Another issue: budding mathematicians quickly learn the importance of doing every exercise in the textbook. Of this I am sure: there exists online an answer key to the exercises of every classic textbook you can find. (For kicks I’m currently working through the exercises of Atiyah and MacDonald’s Introduction to Commutative Algebra, and, yeah, there’s an answer key. My own proofs are better, just saying.) If you’re not putting in the necessary grunt work, where does that leave you? Graduate school qualifying exams are hard. (Maryland’s PhD program had/has a 50% washout rate.) You’ve got to train yourself.
I'm totally in awe of you.
 

bdgan

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Who cares? It's a massively expensive endeavor (in terms of dollars, time, and natural resources) and will not make life better for most people on this planet. Also, ordering food on your phone is not same as AI - it's not just automation. It's evolved automation to the point of replacing the need for humans at most levels of employment. This whole manufactured 'race' to stay in the AI game is a scam so that, you guessed it, taxpayers keep footing the bill for this sh*t and so Anthropic, OpenAI, etc. can keep moving dollars around to show that they are worth it. Lately it seems like they're not, given how expensive AI has proven to be (in real dollars).
Technology needs customers in order to survive. Companies wouldn't be spending the money if they didn't think it was going to make them more productive.
 

Grant Green

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will not make life better for most people on this planet.
I think this is a really big assumption and likely incorrect. That's not to say AI won't create other problems, but to say it won't make life better for most people seems very hyperbolic.

What if AI could reduce work (not eliminate) for most so that we could go to 3 or 4 day work weeks with the same pay and have more free time to spend with family and friends?
 

Midnighter

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I think this is a really big assumption and likely incorrect. That's not to say AI won't create other problems, but to say it won't make life better for most people seems very hyperbolic.

What if AI could reduce work (not eliminate) for most so that we could go to 3 or 4 day work weeks with the same pay and have more free time to spend with family and friends?

Same pay for less work? Not in America. You are truly an optimist and no less hyperbolic.
 
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Grant Green

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Same pay for less work? Not in America. You are truly an optimist and no less hyperbolic.
Ok, so some combination of similar pay and/or lower cost of living. Certainly cost of living can come down. I'm certainly cognizant of the risk of wealthy owners reaping the financial benefits and workers getting shafted. However, if we see skyrocketing unemployment numbers, even the most conservative politicians will understand that something has to give.

I'm cautiously optimistic, but you seem to think there is zero upside to AI and only down.
 

PAgeologist

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We have thousands of acres of abandoned steel plant sites located in Bethlehem, Coatesville, Steelton, Sharon, etc. across the Commonwealth. They all have access to water/power and all the necessary infrastructure available.

If I was the Governor I would call in Mayors, County Commissioners, state legislators and community groups and create a plan to market these industrial sites.

We might not add thousands of jobs like the old days, but we would create real estate taxes and use up brownfield sites that are just sitting there in towns that need the revitalization.

Why is the obvious impossible?

Meanwhile so many complain like the buggy whip, wagon, coal, and canal operators and unions must have back in the day.
I dont get that either. Why target rural and wilderness areas when there are so many abandoned buildings sitting empty in cities and industrial areas.
 

PAgeologist

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Add Johnstown, Sharon, most of Beaver County to the list. I've looked at several old steel mill sites for this very purpose. Also add in abandoned coal mining sites in coal country.

My team is currently exploring ways to repurpose existing acid mine drainage by extracting rare earth elements, remediating the water, and then utilizing it for data center cooling applications. The Penn State Energy Institute has expressed an interest in working with us on this. We’re also evaluating on-site power generation strategies using natural gas and fuel cells, which can provide highly reliable power with minimal emissions — primarily limited to a relatively small amount of reportable CO₂.

One of the biggest challenges we’re encountering is market adoption and speed-to-market. Many end users — particularly the firms deploying large GPU clusters — are comfortable with traditional grid-supplied power and tend to prefer familiar utility-backed models. In parallel, there is still an education and confidence-building process required with the local communities, financiers and capital partners to gain broader support for alternative infrastructure and energy delivery approaches.

Another issue is connectivity in the more remote areas of PA. I'm working on that also with several fiber providers.
The rare earth extraction from AMD is really starting to take off. I first heard about it in the 90s in college. But then basically nothing for years until recently.

They are also looking at some of the spoil piles for the minerals. I had some people out on jobs I was involved in grabbing samples.

Are you working in western PA or the anthracite region?
 

johnmpsu

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Nov 29, 2001
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Although I would say that part of the point is to reduce work (not necessarily eliminate jobs) I largely agree that the bigger goal is to improve the world. Accelerate technology, help to diagnose and cure disease, climate modeling, improving traffic, solve complex problems, research,etc.

Unfortunately there will be some bad side effects. Like people making music with AI. I HATE that ****.
How dare you sound reasonable!! Don't you know, you will NEVER get on TV sounding like that. You have to predict the end if the world or worse! Catastrophe is the only possible outcome if you want publicity. Now repeat after me. The sky is falling. The sky is falling. Run for your life.
 
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Monty2007

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Apr 10, 2007
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If data centers aren't a concern environmentally or without side effects, how many exist or are planned within a mile of Mar-a-Largo or outside the corporate centers of Amazon, Apple, MS, Nvidia, etc. I'm sure they're all buying adjacent real estate to create what they need.
 

BobPSU92

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According to the Wall Street Journal, construction of DATA. CENTERS. o_O in the U.S. is behind schedule due to supply chain issues, difficulties obtaining permits, and a lack of available power. They say that construction has not started for over 60% of capacity planned for 2027.