The role of AI tools (LLMs, mainly) in Linux is under discussion, or it was, until Linus Torvalds “put his foot down” in support of the use of AI in Linux kernel development.
Torvalds has years of experience as a developer, he wrote:
AI is a tool, just like other tools we use. And it’s clearly a useful one.
Which I firmly agree with. I think if AI is used responsibly it can be beneficial for certain tasks. More education around better AI usage and practices is more important now than ever before.
Just because Linus put his foot down doesn’t mean the discussion is over. Reeks of hero worship. He also said that Linux isn’t political…
it isnt political, its a a kernel
Open source is inherently political.
but this isnt a foss group or gnu. FSF is very political, linux is not. microsoft is the largest contributor to open source with goigke in second pkace. they bith have many open source projects but dont shate tge same values as FSF. Linux has never pushed that agenda.
Oil is a group of hydrocarbons
I think Linus has realized that LLM’s are not going anywhere and can actually be a useful tool if used correctly.
And he is right in that respect. I know Lemmy is very anti-AI, and for good reason. Because we do not NEED it. And heat producing, power and water guzzling datacenters in this time of climate change is absolutely NOT what we need.
Yet I think LLM’s are here to stay. When used as an “employee” you instruct what to do while keeping total control of the code it produces it is actually pretty useful.
However, I really do hope that open weight models keep improving (which they are) and running them locally on midrange gpu’s on your own computer will be the future.
Because the way the big AI companies are doing things now is absolutely not sustainable and I hope they all fail soon.
I know Lemmy is very anti-AI
No, Lemmy isn’t very anti-AI, just very sane.
AI is a tool. If it does the job better than other tools that’s totally okay. It has so much potential to improve lives.
If on the other hand it’s about artificial general intelligence soon™ hallucinations, “we can totally replace all skilled workers”-fairy tales and other “stop using your brains and eat the slob”-bullshit it just needs to die… alongside the
company CEOssnake oil buyers who (not so secretly anymore) dream about getting rid of all those pesky workers they have to pay proper wages.And sadly 99% of the narratives we are constantly fed (and yes, that includes such “See Linus now supports AI! AI’s winning!!” bullshit stories, when it would be the perfect starting point to actually evaluate AI properly just once…) belong to the second category. Because AI companies in their insanity painted themselves into a corner. Their investments are insane, their market models unsustainable and telling the lie that everyone needs to use their AI and get integrated everywhere-even if it makes zero sense- is basically their only way to salvage something from that shitshow.
I’m not sure “sane” is the best word for us generally 😂
But I get your point and agree with it
Arguing over use of a tool is foolish.
Arguing over correct use of a tool absolutely has merit.
AI as an industry has extremely debatable morality, however you kinda can’t put this genie back in the bottle.
Like him or don’t, his ultimate message of “This shit is here so you may as well learn how to embrace it” isn’t inherently bad either in context of bug-hunting and skilled individuals using the tools as an aid rather than as the alpha and omega solution.
How is this controversial besides coming from the guy who said it?
“Rape and adultery are a major boost to reproduction rate and infancy survival rate therefore are very useful. Embrace it. Enjoy it.”
Haha. Do you people have no morality?
Read further before responding next time and don’t “you people” me when you’ve got no idea what bucket I fit in.
Some of us perceive benefit in not touching “the shit” and not letting “the shit” get in our environment (computers, phones, lettuce)
There may be no tech way to put the genie into the septic tank, but surely we can’t be forced to deal with it, and until the foot dropped there was a social way to rebottle the genie
Oh I agree. I jumped off Windows the day I got my laptop and saw what a horror show windows 11 is and am outright refusing to update my android until I can unlock my bootloader and entirely degoogle.
I also don’t use any of the big LLMs because I see no point and don’t have a job that requires I do so. I personally believe AI is a net-negative for humanity in general.
One could also argue the very same for alcohol, gunpowder, firearms, etc. The only recourse left is to argue ethical use, not cry about not wanting it in the world anymore.
Besides, what does using AI to debug the kernel and optimize it for people who have reason to run local LLMs have to do with you and me? I’m all for sticking it to The Man when he does some Seriously Dumb Shit, but this whole situation qualifies for neither.
This is the correct take, and I kinda hate many things AI is doing.
in Linux is under discussion
Are you referring to LKML discussion? Or some other metaphysical discussion we should be aware of? Yes. Linus replied in the thread.
It’s not really very surprising point of view.
