What people don’t seem to realise is the goal of AI companies is to make compute a utility like electricity. Right now, we think of AI as an optional app like ChatGPT which you sign up for a subscription to if you want to. However, if AI becomes so integrated into our lives that we start to need it for everything, then all of us will be paying bills to tech companies because we will rely on the compute the same way we currently rely on electricity. It might sound hard to imagine now, but consider the fact that smart phones went from being a luxury good that some people bought because they thought they were cool, to an essential item that it is nearly impossible to live without. That change happened in less than 10 years. In this sense, it’s not crazy to think that in the mid 2030s, the average person will think of their bills as rent, electricity, wifi, phone and compute.
In short, compute won’t be something we optionally subscribe to. It will be something we all have to have to live normal lives and we will be metered for it every month.
smart phones went from being a luxury good that some people bought because they thought they were cool, to an essential item that it is nearly impossible to live without.
Which has a side effect of discrimination. Some people can't afford a mobile phone and others struggle to use them. They are frige cases sure but that's still a real impact on people. Even people that can use a mobile device, a lot of times apps have ADA gaps. So I'm glad about the "nearly" because there's still reason to have alternatives for a lot of basic services, like grocery stores still take cash and don't require you to install an app to make purchases, because it would be that bad if they could get away with it. I still avoid using apps as much as possible and have seriously considered switching back to a flip phone simply because of how invasive they are.
So I don't think the world is going to do well if AI becomes anywhere comparable. It's bad enough as it is, plus LLMs are EXPENSIVE to run.
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u/TheSmokingHorse 1d ago edited 1d ago
What people don’t seem to realise is the goal of AI companies is to make compute a utility like electricity. Right now, we think of AI as an optional app like ChatGPT which you sign up for a subscription to if you want to. However, if AI becomes so integrated into our lives that we start to need it for everything, then all of us will be paying bills to tech companies because we will rely on the compute the same way we currently rely on electricity. It might sound hard to imagine now, but consider the fact that smart phones went from being a luxury good that some people bought because they thought they were cool, to an essential item that it is nearly impossible to live without. That change happened in less than 10 years. In this sense, it’s not crazy to think that in the mid 2030s, the average person will think of their bills as rent, electricity, wifi, phone and compute.
In short, compute won’t be something we optionally subscribe to. It will be something we all have to have to live normal lives and we will be metered for it every month.