This is why AI skeptics exist. We’re now at the point where you can make entirely unsubstantiated claims about AI capability, and even many folks on HN will accept it with a complete lack of discernment. The hype is out of control.

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embedding-shape 12 hours ago | parent [-]

> folks on HN will accept it with a complete lack of discernment

Well, I'm a heavy LLM user, I "believe" LLM helps me a lot for some tasks, but I'm also a developer with decades of experience, so I'm not gonna claim it'll help non-programmers to build software, or whatever. They're tools, not solutions in themselves.

But even us "folks on HN" who generally keep up with where the ecosystem is going, have a limit I suppose. You need to substantiate what you're saying, and if you're saying you've managed to create a browser, better let others verify that somehow.

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emp17344 12 hours ago | parent [-]

Take a look at this thread regarding the original claim: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46624541

The top comment is indeed baseless hype without a hint of skepticism.

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embedding-shape 12 hours ago | parent | next [-]

The second top comment is my own (skeptical) comment, with 20 points at this moment. Thanks to those 20 people, I felt compelled to write the blog-post in this submission, and try to ask a bit clearer "what is going on?", since apparently we're at least 20 people who is wondering about this.

There is also clearly a lot of other skeptical people in that submission too. Also, simonw (from that top comment) told me themselves "it's not clear that what they built even runs": https://bsky.app/profile/simonwillison.net/post/3mckgw4mxoc2...

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simonw 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

As usual, I was careful with my words:

> This project from Cursor is the second attempt I've seen at this now!

I used the word "attempt" very deliberately, to avoid suggesting that either of these two projects had achieved the goal.

I don't see how you can get to "baseless hype without a hint of skepticism" there unless you've already decided to take anything I say in bad faith.

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blibble 11 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> The top comment is indeed baseless hype without a hint of skepticism.

and he wonders why people call him a shill

accepting everything some shit company tells you as gospel is not the default position of a "researcher"

he better hope he's on the right side of history here, as otherwise he will have burnt his reputation

	▲	emp17344 11 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		I certainly don’t think Simon is a shill. He’s obviously a highly talented person, who in my opinion just doesn’t exercise appropriate discernment in some cases. Edit: Of course, this isn’t a trait unique to Simon either. Everybody has blind spots, and it’s reasonable to be excited when new tech is released. On an unrelated note, my intent is to push back against some of the people here who try to shut down skepticism. Obviously, this doesn’t describe Simon, but I’ve seen others here who try to silence skeptical voices. This comes across as highly controlling and insecure.
	▲	simonw 10 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		See comment here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46646777#46650837 I do not think you are reacting to what I said in good faith. > he better hope he's on the right side of history here, as otherwise he will have burnt his reputation That's something I've actually given quite a lot of thought to. My reputation and credibility matters a great deal to me. If it turns out this entire LLM thing was an over-hyped scam I'll take a very big hit to that reputation, and I'll deserve it. (If AI rises up and tries to kill or enslave us all I'll be too busy fighting back to care.)

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dingnuts 12 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

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