Thread

'That's so AI ' What gen Alpha's biggest insult tells us

216 points · 323 comments · YeGoblynQueenne

DarkNova6 · 1790255345 · focus · HN ↗
I am more and more convinced that young people have a much better understanding of technology and especially its impact on society.
1. sunaookami · 1790255802 · focus · HN ↗
  They can't even use a computer, they struggle with basic computer knowledge because they grow up with closed ecosystems and most of them only have smartphones, not a desktop PC. They are called "Digital Naives" (sic) for a reason.
  1. junon · 1790256035 · focus · HN ↗
    Opposite of my experience. A few family members and their friends invited me to a discord server recently; I'll join for games some nights. They're very acutely aware of how things work. We talk a lot about how even their schoolmates don't really use social media much (at least, not the big ones) and despise AI.
    Gives me some hope that the kids will be alright.
    letmevoteplease · 1790256250 · focus · HN ↗
    Most of them are using AI for all their schoolwork while performatively hating it because "it wastes water" or some other half-understood meme.
    r_lee · 1790256643 · focus · HN ↗
    no? it's because nobody likes AI slop
    satvikpendem · 1790319354 · focus · HN ↗
    If nobody likes it then why do they all make and use it? Revealed preferences.
    Qwertronix · 1790337301 · focus · HN ↗
    Do you like carbon monoxide? No? Then why do you make and "use" it?
    Maybe breathe and let your brain have some oxygen to think about the answer to your own question.
    Wearing your second job uniform while working doesn't reveal a preference for blue jackets, it just means you'd like to not be fired.
    satvikpendem · 1790341734 · focus · HN ↗
    Not sure why you felt the need to throw in a random insult there but I'm sure you already know the answer to the difference between making something voluntarily and involuntarily.
    Qwertronix · 1790419948 · focus · HN ↗
    Apologies, I intended the oxygen bit as a flippant joke but I can see how that could come across as an insult instead.
    As to the difference between voluntary and involuntary, the grey line between those is exactly my point. The employee 'voluntarily' wears blue jackets and could certainly not wear one, and risk getting fired, and certainly could quit that job. A student certainly could spend far more time than their peers on study and end up with a lesser grade on their work, with presumably less returns in most cases. I see a lot of parallels between a teenage student navigating complex new social relationships and learning their way through middle and high school and an employee trying to just earn enough money for rent, in terms of both of them having to make 'choices' that do not feel from the inside like decisions they make freely and that have consequences that appear life-ruining to not take (in which case it reveals a preference for not having your life ruined, rather than for whatever it is that you decided to wear or use or do to merely keep up with the perceived requirements).
    r_lee · 1790339714 · focus · HN ↗
    there's no way you actually didn't understand what I meant right?
    using LLMs to learn for example is not the same as enjoying AI slop posters/art etc
    satvikpendem · 1790341677 · focus · HN ↗
    I'm talking about the latter. Lots of people make slop art and use AI slop for their school essays as mentioned above. Just a few days ago we had this: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49764791">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49764791
    r_lee · 1790342864 · focus · HN ↗
    I'm not one bit surprised that you'd use the path of least resistance to do some essay that you could care less about.
    hating AI slop overall like seeing it in shirts or something like that is not performative.
    satvikpendem · 1790349970 · focus · HN ↗
    That's the part that's performative, they use it, and maybe even like using it, but then outwardly say how much they hate it. I feel like you're not getting that point about what others here are saying.
    r_lee · 1790361669 · focus · HN ↗
    because nobody says "I hate x y and z uses of AI", especially the youth.
    like with that logic, everybody loves AI and all the uses of it because they're not being specific enough in their speech
    satvikpendem · 1790362689 · focus · HN ↗
    They like some uses of it, but say they hate all of it, that is the performative part.
    r_lee · 1790376862 · focus · HN ↗
    I don't think anyone hates all of AI except a minority
    and even if you would hate AI, you don't really have a choice anymore since employers will expect you to be more productive due to it
    but I definitely see a bunch of hate towards the dystopian aspects of it and as mentioned before, the whole slop thing and how you see AI slop everywhere now. it definitely evokes a very negative feeling in me when I see something like that
    satvikpendem · 1790389705 · focus · HN ↗
    That's our point. No one hates all of it yet some people such as some of the Gen Alpha kids as shown in the article performatively act as if they do. Sounds like you're agreeing with us here in this thread.

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