this post was submitted on 25 Dec 2023
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No. No AI is NOT the umbrella term for all of them.
No computer scientist will ever genuinely call basic algorithmic tasks "AI". Stop saying things you literally do not know.
We are not talking about what what the word means to normies colloquially. We're talking about what it actually means. The entire point it is a separate term from those other things.
Engineers would REALLY appreciate it if marketing morons would stop misapplying terminology just to make something sound cooler... NONE of those things are "AI". That's the fucking point. Marketing gimmicks should not get to choose our terms. (as much as they still do)
If I pull up to your house on a bicycle and tell you, "quickly, get in my vehicle so I can drive us to the store." You SHOULD look at that person weirdly: They're treating a bicycle like it's a car capable of getting on the freeway with passengers.
What I've learned as a huge nerd is that people will take a term and use it as an umbrella term for shit and they're always incorrect but there's never any point in correcting the use because that's the way the collective has decided words work and it's how they will work.
Now the collective has decided that AI is an umbrella term for executing "more complex tasks" which we cannot understand the technical workings of but need to get done.
This is in fact how common language works, and also how jargon develops. No one in this thread outside of the specific people pointing out the problem cares what it is beyond the colloquial use, keep jargon to the in group, or you'll just alienate the out-group and your entire point will be missed.
Yep
Sometimes, but there are many cases where the nerds win. Like with technology. How many times do we hear old people misuse terms because they don't care about the difference just for some young person to laugh and make fun of their lack of perspective?
I've seen it quite a lot, and I have full confidance it will happen here so long as an actual generalized intelligence comes along to show everyone the HUGE difference every nerd talks about.
But it will be called something different so almost nobody will notice that they now should see the difference
Speak for yourself. Many of us fought that battle literally years ago and then accepted reality and moved on with our lives. Show me an actual computer scientist still hung up on this little bit of not-so-new-anymore language and I'll show you a dying curmudgeon who has let the world pass them by. We frequently use AI to refer to these technologies that we have today and we've started to use more descriptive language such as post-singularity AI or Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
Hard agree. I don't consider myself a "computer scientist", but I do have a CS degree. The public use of AI is so far gone it's just what it is now. I still wouldn't consider path finding AI, but when you say an AI image creator, or AI chat bot it gets the point across well enough since we all know what is meant.
Calm down , language is fluid, you may not like it, but if enough people start using it as an umbrella term, that is what it's colloquially and eventually officially going to be soon. You can't expect to have such hard set rules this early on in the technology, it's foolish
OP was not only speaking about "AI". You are strawmanning what I said in order to be correct.
😔
To be fair, AI was coined to mean programs written in LISP and it changes every time new techniques are developed. It's definitely just a marketing term, but for grant money.
You're talking in a forum to a bunch of normies using words colloquially, or to a bunch of media buffoons who report to nornies who are familiar with colloquial terms. I get your point if you're talking to engineers, but you're not
Xerox, Velcro, and Google agree with you. To bad the general public doesn't.
Extra song from Velcro here that agrees with what you're saying
They are the same picture.
Yeah, and these days “literally” means “figuratively” whether I like it or not. Find a different hill to die on.
That is completely and utterly a separate issue. These aren't words being changed over time. These are words being directly misapplied by morons, NOT for any ironic effect.
People mean it when they "misuse" literally. People who misuse AI don't know what AI is. This is a technical term being misused. Not a normal word being redefined.
For a different word, "narcissism" DOES NOT magically mean, "a mean person" just because morons misuse a technical term. Stop being a piece of shit that wants to sound smart and start using terms correctly or not at all.
I just think you seem way more angry about this than you should be. It’s not really something to pop a blood vessel over. And “literally” becoming “figuratively” was also because of the misuse by morons. The fact one is a technical term is irrelevant. The not-as-educated masses water down language, particularly “technical” language because of course the general public aren’t going to know the nuances. But it’s not like most of them are talking about any of this stuff on a level where those nuances matter. Referring to the general field of “computers kinda thinking like people” as AI gets the point across for them, and it’s not hurting you. So chill.
Notice how OP was speaking about more than "AI".
I did notice, and my point still stands.
Notice how the person you replied to never once mentioned AI, and was talking in pretty broad terms.
You're describing jargon vs colloquial use. If you're talking to your engineer buddy, yeah, use the terms properly or be prepared to offer clarification, because in that context it's pretty important. If you're talking to a psychiatrist, same thing for narcissist.
When it comes to general public, people will use words however they're most commonly used, and that's perfectly fine. The average person doesn't know, can't be expected to learn, and has no use for knowing the definition of jargon that's outside of their day-to-day use.
If the use of colloquial terms is causing you or someone else confusion or losing clarity, ask clarifying questions. That's how professionals or just more knowledgeable people on the subject in general, have had to interface with the average person for like... How long have we had language?
That's just like your opinion, man - The Dude
You're smart right? So, who's there more of, normies or computer scientists? Just make the tech, if that really is what you do, but marketing and the masses are always going to decide what we call stuff not some ~~cartoonist~~ engineer.
Uhhhh who do you think defines these specialized words in the first place? Not normies. That is the dumbest shit I've ever heard, thanks for the laugh.
I'm pleased you are entertained. But being correct doesn't make you any less wrong. I'm sorry that you don't understand how language works. Now go build us some more toys.
In general conversation? The people there are more of define it lol. In a professional setting yeah, be specific, but... Wait, where are we? Oh the fucking comments section on lemmy. Pretty much the exact opposite of a professional setting. Use the words how the people around you are using it, or you'll be misunderstood and have to explain yourself.