What is the AI-version of "we wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters"?
10/7/2024
What unfulfilled promises and unexpected outcomes will define the AI era?
In 2013, Peter Thiel remarked that "We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters." This made me wonder: What will the AI-version of this statement be? I will use this post to collect some ideas and thoughts on the topic.
I should have said "140 characters" instead of "140" to match the original quote more accurately.
The goal is not to be pessimistic: quite the opposite. I think many of the unexpected outcomes will be very positive and we will look back at 2024 and wonder how we ever lived without them.
Similarly, thinking about what will the things we "wanted" but didn't get is a good way to find the most promising areas for investment and research.
Some ideas I've collected so far:
- We wanted artificial intelligence, but all we got was customer support chatbots.
- We wanted AI tutors, but all we got was AI cheating.
- We wanted AI researchers and innovators, but all we got was AI girlfriends.
Some comments from friends / X:
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@absoluttig: I’m honestly more interested in the inverse of the question: "What are things that are incredibly cool that AI will do, and everyone is too stuck in the 2010s to realize."
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@teodor_io: "Internal tools" (Or better said, "We wanted talking robots, but all we got was internal tools")
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@nivgeron: "We wanted to automate laundry and dishes, but automated writing and painting."
I'm very curious to hear more ideas! Drop me a note on X/email if you want to share one.