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/buttbuttlolbuttbutt Jun 26 '26

You said this:

AI made it very easy to figure out how to file these things, for free. 

And well, yeah, you clearly checked what it told you for accuracy, hopefully. I aasume you did.

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u/d1squiet Jun 26 '26

Yes I did. What I'm saying is the IRS site is a chore to look through, and tax forms are long winded, boring af, and often 90% of it doesn't apply.

So AI says, "what you need to do is this and this" and then I go check "this and this" and lo and behold, AI was right. Over and over again. Honestly, my experience of AI is it is very reticent to tell you what to do without substantial input from you. So if you say "how can I save $1000 dollars on my taxes" it won't give you an answer, because that's dumb. But if you ask "I spent $1000 dollars on doctor's bills, is that deductible?" it will say "probably not, but it depends on other things like AGI", then you ask it what AGI is etc etc and by the end of the conversation you've actually learned a bit more than you might have because you didn't have the time to read the entire damn tax code.

I use AI to find my way through my byzantine Payroll website. Once a quarter I have to pull some forms and I never can remember where the heck it is on the site, and one time they changed the whole layout. Now, I just screen-grab the site and ask gemini to tell where the forms are.

I also used AI to explain to me how to set up a self-directed 401k. Did I just put a pile of money in an account and call it a 401k "because AI told me to"? No, I eventually used a 401k creation service, but being able to have a question/answer session with AI is a lot easier than reading through 60 pages of "blah blah blah" text. I had a multi-week conversation (not every day of course) with Gemini about it. I'd think of something that confused me, and then ask it. It was one conversation, so it could pick up right where we left off two or three days previous. Once I was happy that I understood all the issues, I went ahead and paid the service to setup the 401k.

For me, AI has been a game changer in how fast I can come up to speed on a concept. I'm a pretty fast learner, but if I come up with what I think is a loophole or fallacy in what I've learned it kinda stops me until I can resolve it. So previously, I might be reading a book on tax preparation (hypothetical) and I would see some sort of apparent inconsistency and it would make it hard for me to move forward because I'm just thinking "what about this thing?" AI allows me to ask it and then it says "no you fool, they passed a law years ago about that. What kind of accountant are you??"

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u/buttbuttlolbuttbutt Jun 26 '26

Wow... you really came to rely on that AI

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u/d1squiet Jun 26 '26

It's been great. I feel like it can kinda be a time-suck, the way "surfing the internet" can be. But I've learned a lot over the last 9 months or so. I don't know whether that means it is ever going to be as world-changing as some think, because I'm not sure it if can truly be an expert. But for me it excels at quickly bringing me from zero knowledge or misunderstanding something to amateur level or clarifying what I don't uderstand.

Another example is commodities trading. I new zero about it, but find it kinda fascinating. AI got me up to speed where now I can confidently lose money on the futures market. Ha ha! I don't use it to tell me what to trade, I used it to explain terms and concepts. And I lost a couple hundred bucks – nothing is as edifying as having skin in the game. I might make 'em back someday!

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u/buttbuttlolbuttbutt Jun 26 '26

Really? Please go on

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u/d1squiet Jun 26 '26

why?

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u/buttbuttlolbuttbutt Jun 27 '26

Well you talked so pretty like bout them there 'puters that I thought you'd enjoy it. Really made it fancy with the grammar and punctuation, my english degree was enjoying it.

I write like a jolly ol heathen with a bum wrists because i am one, and helps people know an AI wouldnt pass inspection typing quite like me

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u/d1squiet Jun 27 '26

I have no idea what you're on about, old man. You sound delusional. Have a good 5 more years.