Swords, bows and arrows, castles were all here to stay.

Technologies fade away when they are no longer useful, cost/benefit ratio is too high or something better comes along.

It is question of when.

KptMarchewa 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

They stopped being used as primary weapons because better ones were found - mostly firearms - not because people got bored of it; or reverted to some earlier methods of warfare.

	▲	sifar 36 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Yes, there is the general class of technologies (warfare, computing ...) and there are particular instances of those for a given time and space and evolve as the landscape changes. The technology of warfare evolved to better mechanisms, perhaps same with computing.

▲

chaps 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Bows and arrows are still widely used for hunting all over the world. I was able do freelance work on a relatively low income because of access to ~150lbs of deer meat that came from multiple bow-hunted deer.

▲

u_fucking_dork 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

So you’re saying today’s models are sticks and stones and you’re looking forward to the nuclear submarine equivalent models?

	▲	lucketone an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Building on that futurism. We might design organic brain extensions, so people just become smarter, making LLMs obsolete. (Brain-Bluetooth interface for additional cost)

▲

squidbeak an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

What tech can you imagine that would make the conversion of electricity into thought 'no longer useful'?

	▲	sifar 24 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		This is an interesting question that I haven't thought about, thanks. What we currently have is a simulacrum of thought - albeit a good one. Any technology is useful only in the sense that it helps us with solving the problems we are dealing with in that time. When we face issues that a pseudo-thought is not useful in tackling or worse is one of the causes - this will recede in the background. Beyond that, the implicit assumption in the question is that thinking is the highest form of activity that is useful to us. I don't know how my thoughts arise but thinking happens when I engage with them. I think what we look for is meaning in our lives and thinking helps us generate/achieve one, whether real or illusory.

▲

ang_cire 33 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I don't know about you, but I can buy bows and arrows at hundreds of sporting goods stores in my local area alone, and I even know of 2 local blacksmith shops that sell swords.

Castles still exist as well, you just aren't invited to them (which was true for us peasants back in the day, too). Trump is still trying to get one built under the ruins of the East Wing, in fact.

▲

charcircuit 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

No one is claiming that ChatGPT 5.5 is here to stay and be popular forever. More advance AI models will replace what exists today.