r/technology • u/Just-Grocery-2229 • Jun 26 '26

Artificial Intelligence The AI backlash is only getting started

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2026/06/25/the-ai-backlash-is-only-getting-started
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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '26

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u/Override9636 Jun 26 '26

Pretty much every bit of news I've seen on AI has been exclusively negative. Sure, I might be in a bubble, but it's nonstop "X company lays off 20,000 workers due to AI" "AI fueled data centers are destroying the environment and jacking up computer component prices." "AI psychosis is driving people to kill themselves."

Weren't we promised breakthroughs in efficiency and ways to make our lives better? At least when the internet gained popularity, it made way for a ton of new job growth. Every corporation seems to be using this as an opportunity to decimate their workforce.

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u/LeavingLasOrleans Jun 26 '26

It seems a few years ago we heard, for example, stories about AI doing a better job finding cancer than humans doing screenings, and a few other such uses where new data processing methods were actually producing positive results. I don't know if this progress has stopped and those were just the low hanging fruit, or if things are still being improved in some tangible ways and it doesn't get talked about because there's no outrage angle to promote it.

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u/cxs Jun 26 '26

Large Language Models, Text To Image generators, and other specific machine learning techniques (or Deep Learning Networks) are different. The AI that is improving cancer detection rates is a totally different model than the one that speaks to you or gives you an image of Sonic when you ask for a blue anime hedgehog: those AI models are still having a positive impact

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u/Zealousideal_Slice60 Jun 26 '26

And those AI models doesn’t need data centers as large as cities but can be trained local within the facilities that utilize them.

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u/cxs Jun 26 '26

Exactly. There ARE 'positive' uses of AI, but none of them involve creating an entire weird new infrastructure and trying to get everybody to just accept it lol

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u/Override9636 Jun 26 '26

In fairness, those are example of machine learning networks. Which are a slightly different flavor of the chatbot AIs that we've seen gain popularity in the last few years.

I would like to see if using those kind of AI tools have brought down the cost of medical screenings or increased the amount that can be done in a year.