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pton_xdyesterday at 9:02 PM4 repliesview on HN

The purpose of a gun is to kill things, whereas the purpose of a chat bot is to help people. They're not really in the same category of tool.


Replies

BLKNSLVRyesterday at 11:13 PM

The purpose of chat bots is profit (which could well be argued to help a select few people).

Alternative take: The purpose of "thing" is "what it is used for", which is a crude variation of "the purpose of a system is what it does". Reducing it to a single definition is almost always going to be inaccurate.

The way it is used defines it's purpose. The screwdriver was used to open the milo tin so the milo could be removed from the tin. The gun was used to make a hole in the milo tin so the milo could be removed from the tin. Purpose is a per-unique-scenario proposition. The best tool for the job is the one that's available.

To intentionally misquote Arthur Weasley: "What exactly is the purpose of a rubber duck?"

JumpCrisscrossyesterday at 9:03 PM

> purpose of a gun is to kill things

I’ve fired guns. Never to kill things. I’ve also used chat bots to be entirely useless. I wouldn’t endorse this dichotomy of purpose as a basis for any judgement.

show 4 replies
rurpyesterday at 10:40 PM

The AI slop accounts that are absolutely flooding social media and are controlled by scammers or propagandists are there to help people?

clear-octopusyesterday at 11:05 PM

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