[Discuss] LLMs and AI
Dan Ritter
dsr at randomstring.org
Thu Jan 29 16:11:05 EST 2026
markw at mohawksoft.com wrote:
> Anyone want to discuss?
1. What are they useful for?
2. If they were perfect for what they are useful for, would they be
worth the fully-loaded cost including externalities?
It appears to me that the answer to the second question is
"rarely, if ever", so the answer to the first question is moot.
This is a variant of Newton's Flaming Laser Sword.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Alder#Newton's_flaming_laser_sword
"We should not dispute propositions unless they can be shown by
precise logic and/or mathematics to have observable consequences."
My variant:
"We should generally dismiss solutions which cost far more than we are willing to pay."
You might argue that a subscription to Claude costs $17 per
month, but this is much like saying that the cost of your first
hit of meth is $5.
And people actually like meth.
-dsr-
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