"AI" is just a fancy filter

That doesn't mean it isn't useful – but does it really warrant adding it to every new and old product? Here's a great perspective on AGI, whether it's possible, and how "AI" is actually useful.

Even if a technology does use AI, the haphazard inclusion of AI does not make it automatically better. If duct tape suddenly became a trendy technology, startups would start slapping duct tape on their keyboards just so they could say “made with duct tape,” and large corporations would start putting little pieces of duct tape on existing products so they could say “now made with duct tape.” This doesn’t make duct tape any less useful, but it does make it difficult to discern duct tape’s actual utility.¹

I love that analogy.

I think it’s spot-on, too. There’s been a lot of chatter and hype about “AI,” to such an extent it’s losing all meaning. Artificial intelligence is a very broad category — sort of like medicine. When your foot hurts, you may say “I’m going to see the doctor,” but what you really mean is “I’m going to go see a podiatrist.” We make assumptions in language but often those assumptions get us i…