Re:OpenAI's "Own Goal"
by ben_w on Thursday March 07, 2024 @06:16AM
(#39627625)
"One-trick pony" seems like a weird phrase in this context.
On the one hand, if that trick is "make money", sure, I've just been presented with a video of him on the Y Combinator YouTube channel "How to Succeed with a Startup". But by that standard, I am also a one-trick pony, my trick is making software.
On the other hand, Altman, Musk, and Gates, are also all (ostensibly) trying to be philanthropic in various different ways, which have pretty much nothing in common with each other. Altman and Musk are doing entrepreneurial philanthropy, Gates is doing traditional philanthropy; Musk is being a brash confident loudmouth about how amazing his favoured solutions are, Altman and Gates are being more cautious and at least give the appearance of listening; All three are frequently condemned for not really having invented the things they're famous for.
For the moat thing, I think they probably have one by now from RLHF training data. This isn't to fundamentally disagree about everyone else catching up in 6 months (though I'd put it at 12, but NBD), it's just that for me, that kind of lag time is a sign of the speed of the Red Queen's race, not a sign of the absence of a moat. Indeed, that catch up-time kinda is the moat in action — a literal moat around a castle doesn't prevent attacks, it only delays them.
On the one hand, if that trick is "make money", sure, I've just been presented with a video of him on the Y Combinator YouTube channel "How to Succeed with a Startup". But by that standard, I am also a one-trick pony, my trick is making software.
On the other hand, Altman, Musk, and Gates, are also all (ostensibly) trying to be philanthropic in various different ways, which have pretty much nothing in common with each other. Altman and Musk are doing entrepreneurial philanthropy, Gates is doing traditional philanthropy; Musk is being a brash confident loudmouth about how amazing his favoured solutions are, Altman and Gates are being more cautious and at least give the appearance of listening; All three are frequently condemned for not really having invented the things they're famous for.
For the moat thing, I think they probably have one by now from RLHF training data. This isn't to fundamentally disagree about everyone else catching up in 6 months (though I'd put it at 12, but NBD), it's just that for me, that kind of lag time is a sign of the speed of the Red Queen's race, not a sign of the absence of a moat. Indeed, that catch up-time kinda is the moat in action — a literal moat around a castle doesn't prevent attacks, it only delays them.