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inigyoutoday at 1:03 PM7 repliesview on HN

But that's the rare exception. Almost nobody prefers an artisanal chair over one from IKEA, especially when they see the price tag.


Replies

estaroctoday at 1:33 PM

I think most people would in fact prefer an artisanal chair if not for the price, not just "especially" accounting for price. Not a good comparison here though, because most products are not cheaper to the consumer due to AI - only cheaper (in theory) to the provider.

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lbritotoday at 3:40 PM

Everything about that analogy is wrong.

Everyone would prefer a nicer handmade chair (if not by the price difference).

Chairs are not comparable to OPs cards; writing on a card costs nothing (but intent, which seems to be in low stock these days).

Finally, factoring in the real operating cost, ongoing capital costs, and environmental/social externalities, the AI chair in your example would cost something like 1000x a handmade chair.

THansenitetoday at 1:25 PM

This is so true. My wife loves knitting and frequently gets comments about her items of people asking if they could have her knit something for them. When she tells them that if she tripled the prices of a similar store-bought one, she'd still be making sweatshop wages, they go back to the mass produced version they already have pretty quick.

sylenstoday at 1:09 PM

There is a distinct difference between a chair and a communication (birthday card, letter, email, whatever) about some personal life event

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morgoths_banetoday at 6:23 PM

That one from IKEA was designed by actual people though. If I had a chair designed by robots it probably wouldn’t be as nice, comfortable and evidently, affordable.

bigstrat2003today at 4:31 PM

Everyone prefers an artisanal chair over one from IKEA. The only reason they go for the latter is because that's what they can afford, not because they would get that option if all else were equal.