i'm a pragmatist on the AI front, i'll admit this was fun. (20250616)

Seven replies to the viral Apple reasoning paper – and why they fall short

the apple paper on reasoning models has been a fascinating read and a gut check for where we’re at with AI. gary marcus dishes out some, “but i’ve been saying this for ages…” in this newsletter. i have to admit i was amused with the snark.

while gary marcus is reasonably balanced here, the anti-AI crews seem more unhinged than ever. ed zitron seems decidedly off his rocker. i don’t consider myself an AI-booster and i’m more than a little concerned about the way these tools will re-shape our society and the workplace. but whinging about the money being poured into AI and the obvious failings of the tools is cautionary, but it isn’t going to change things. the old man yelling at cloud vibes that the anti-AI crew is throwing off is taking us away from practical discourse on how to use and manage these tools.

AI is useful, it’s going to get better, and there’s no getting around the fact that this is interesting and potentially dangerous at so many levels. we need critics and skeptics, if you’re rational you should be reading both sides of the space here (i think this holds true broadly).