Why does AI feel so different?

Historical comparisons and framing

• Some object to grouping recent psychology with figures like Socrates or Bacon and see parts of the essay as “babbling” or “fever dream.”
• Debate over whether AI is genuinely revolutionary or just another overhyped tech wave, likened variously to the internet, electricity, crypto, or even Encarta.
• One commenter claims AI is a fundamental change in earthly complexity; others respond with incredulity.

Monopoly, control, and bias

• Strong concern about “outsourcing thinking” and truth-seeking to a few large companies whose models can hallucinate or be selectively censored for political/financial interests.
• Counterpoint: there is no true monopoly/oligopoly because many competitive and open-weight models exist; the real problem is user dependence on any external “oracle.”
• Several note that AI is a powerful tool for subtle mass influence—“other men with machines,” not machine agency, is the threat.

Usefulness vs hype and limits

• Some professionals find LLMs net negative: checking their work cancels benefits, and conversations with “AI versions” of thinkers feel like playing with dolls.
• Others report large productivity gains (e.g., coding with Claude/Windsurf, Gemini, auto-debugging, refactoring) and using reclaimed time for family.
• Anecdotes: a plumber optimizing a pool system and a lawnmower repair illustrate LLMs as practical problem-solvers where experts or documentation are hard to access.
• Disagreement over macro impact: some argue there’s no clear productivity boom and call this a bubble; others cite specific domains (customer service, protein structure, call centers) with measurable gains but acknowledge no broad economic transformation yet.

Work, skills, and learning

• Many see LLMs as “strong junior” assistants: good at grunt work, weak at deep expertise, architecture, or truly complex reasoning.
• Fears about skill atrophy are compared to past transitions (manual arithmetic → spreadsheets, assembly → higher-level languages).
• Debate over “paradigm shift in accessing knowledge”: critics say real understanding requires engaging with primary sources and that AI encourages shallow, derivative learning; supporters emphasize tutoring-style explanations, persistent Q&A, and accessibility for non-experts and children.

Societal and psychological context

• One view: AI feels different because it is a shared “miracle” narrative amid perceived climate, geopolitical, and political collapse—“mass hallucination” supporting a lucrative hype machine.
• Others counter with data-driven optimism, calling this a “golden age” of peace and prosperity and urging perspective.
• Several see extreme AI optimism and doom as twin reactions to broader dissatisfaction with the status quo, while a quieter camp treats AI as just another tool that will be widely embedded but not world-ending or world-saving.