> Using AI to output noise and learn nothing at breakneck speeds is worse than simply looking out the window, because you now have a false sense of security about your understanding of the material.

i may put this into my email signature with your permission, this is a whip-smart sentence.

and it is true. i used AI to "curate information" for me when i was heads-down deep in learning mode, about sound and music.

there was enough all-important info being omitted, i soon realized i was developing a textbook case of superficial, incomplete knowledge.

i stopped using AI and did it all over again through books and learning by doing. in retrospect, i'm glad to have had that experience because it taught me something about knowledge and learning.

mostly that something boils down to RTFM. a good manual or technical book written by an expert doesn't have a lot of fluff. what exactly are you expecting the AI to do? zip the rar file? it will do something, it might look great, lossless compression it will be not.

P.S. not a prompt skill issue. i was up to date on cutting edge prompting techniques and using multiple frontier models. i was developing an app using local models and audio analysis AI-powered libraries. in other words i was up to my neck immersed in AI.

after i grokked as much as i could, given my limited math knowledge, of the underlying tech from reading the theory, i realized the skill issue invectives don't hold water. if things break exactly in the way they're expected to break as per their design, it's a little too much on the nose. even appealing to your impostor syndrome won't work.

P.P.S. it's interesting how a lot of the slogans of the AI party are weaponizing trauma triggers or appealing to character weaknesses.

"hop on the train, commit fully, or you'll be left behind" > fear of abandonment trigger

"pah, skill issue. my prompts on the other hand...i'm afraid i can't share them as this IP is making me millions of passive income as we speak (i know you won't probe further cause asking a person about their finances is impolite)" > imposter syndrome inducer par excellence, also FOMO -- thinking to yourself "how long can the gold rush last? this person is raking it in!! what am i doing? the miserable sod i am"

1. outlandish claims (Claude writes ALL the code) noone can seem to reproduce, and indeed everyone non-affiliated is having a very different experience

2. some of the darkest patterns you've seen in marketing are the key tenets of the gospel

3. it's probably a duck.

i've been 100% clear on the grift since October '25. Steve Eisman of the "Big Short" was just hopping onto the hype train back then. i thought...oh. how much analysis does this guru of analysts really make? now Steve sings of AI panic and blood in the streets.

these things really make you think, about what an economy even is. it sure doesn't seem to have a lot to do with supply and demand, products and services, and all those archaisms.

AI adoption and Solow's productivity paradox