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๐Ÿค– AI (Artificial Intelligence)

Umbrella term for tools, approaches, research and methodologies revolving around training and utilizing machines to process information. My understanding of this term is wide and includes machine learning and large language models.

Currently I do not do any active research around AI but I sometimes encounter and use products created by AI-based tools.

Interesting use cases for AIโ€‹

Personal concerns about AIโ€‹

  • I'm still studying impact and concerns about AI
  • I'm aware image generation relies on using other people's works and I sympathize with artists protesting against that
    • I used Dall-E-generated images on my blog until I learnt of the above
    • I noticed AI-generated art often looks creepy and distracts my attention
  • AI without boundaries will inevitably turn into a tool for abuse in ways I'm currently not aware of
  • AI is surprisingly efficient at enhancing images of very poor quality, e.g. taken with early digital cameras or old phones
    • its impact is often very limited to specific areas - e.g. tools that are great at retouching people's faces but mediocre at processing other parts of the image
    • people's faces can still look unnatural - e.g. lifeless eyes, malformed or miscolored teeth, skipped or malformed body features
  • I'm yet unable to evaluate the impact of AI on my work as a programmer
    • on one hand I'm aware of tools like GitHub Copilot and it's the matter of time they get better and better, effectively disrupting the industry and eliminating the need for humans to do some tasks
    • on the other, maybe my next job will be as a human interface to some future AI model, with AI providing mundane labor and me directing it
    • low-code and no-code platforms promise the world where software can be built by non-programmers
      • So far I don't feel threatened by their existence
        • But the question arises: who builds the platforms themselves?
        • What happens if AI and no-code platforms meet?
        • Maybe that's already happening and I don't pay enough attention?
    • I'm aware GitHub and GitHub Copilot are hugely problematic but migrating off GitHub requires a lot of work
      • https://sfconservancy.org/GiveUpGitHub/
      • https://codeberg.org/Recommendations/Mirror_to_Codeberg
      • https://nogithub.codeberg.page/
      • packages and libraries that don't integrate deeply with external services can be migrated pretty much right away
      • I can't migrate anything that integrates with GitHub and doesn't offer Codeberg integration (e.g. sites hosted by Netlify)
        • in that case, migrating off one Git provider involves migrating to a different hosting and possibly looking for a new CI solution
          • or self-hosting everything, which costs money and time, both to do and maintain long-term
      • mirroring to Codeberg seems to be the most viable option at the moment
        • but is it worth spending time on it?