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japhyr08/17/202614 repliesview on HN

Of course everyone hates AI. For most people, it's actively making their lives worse, not better.

AI is a really effective technology when used with restraint, in appropriate places. But it's rarely being used with restraint, and it's being inserted just about everywhere.

If you're trying to work in AI on a product related to education, you've got a really high bar to clear to prove that you're actually helping students learn better, and teachers teach better.


Replies

pier2508/18/2026

> you've got a really high bar to clear to prove that you're actually helping students learn better, and teachers teach better

Absolutely.

In fact the data from the past 10-15 years clearly shows the best education technology is still pen and paper, books, and good pedagogy.

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yogthos08/17/2026

What I find interesting is the contrast between the West and China here. Most people in the West expect that AI will make their lives worse in some way. Meanwhile, 84% of Chinese are excited about this tech, and expect that it will be used to make their lives better. it's a really vivid contrast between the way new technology becomes integrated into each type of society.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-14/why-ai-op...

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CSMastermind08/17/2026

No saying you're wrong but how is it making their lives worse?

Most people know use AI for basic applications and seem to enjoy it while the people I know who hate it all seem to be idelogically motivated (seemingly this is a cause de célèbre on the left right now?)

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HexPhantom08/18/2026

The bar should probably be even higher in education than elsewhere. If an AI tool saves a student 30 minutes but also removes the 30 minutes where they would have struggled with the material, it may look like a productivity win while being an educational loss

scotty7908/18/2026

Most people I know that hate AI have faulty versions (1 year behind the frontier) pushed on them at their jobs. People who are free to experiment with frontier models capabilities at their own pace mostly love it or at least are impressed by its capability.

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a2ff6eeb008/18/2026

You also have to answer why, if the AI project pans out, we would care about education.

We have mechanical muscles, and the human strength that was needed before the industrial revolution is no longer important; weight lifters still strength train, but it's a hobby, and nobody needs to do it.

We're building mechanical brains, and the human thought that was needed before the intelligence revolution is no longer important; some people may still study, but it'll be a hobby, and the people who participate in the intelligence revolution (rather than being crushed by it) will no longer need to think.

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sandeepkd08/17/2026

Its definitely a hype phase and yes a lot of usage is questionable at the moment. To me the scary part is that some of the impacts/decisions would take years if not decades to be measurable and its possible that its a lost battle by then.

justsomeshmuck08/18/2026

Do you have any evidence to back up your claim about most people hating AI because it’s making their life worse? Or are you simply spewing opinion as fact because of your own anecdotal experience? It’s okay to have an opinion on something, but don’t lie and claim it as truth.

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singpolyma308/17/2026

I have yet to meet anyone outside the tech elite who hates AI.

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BluSyn08/18/2026

It's made my life way better. I love it, it's incredible boost on my ability to learn and produce.

Don't know anyone who's life was made worse by it, and I strongly doubt you do either.

Remember when people said open-sourcing GPT2 would cause world destruction? They keep saying this with every new model release? And it keeps not happening? Hmm.

This is all FUD. All evidence suggests more AI is better, and all claims to the contrary keep being proven wrong, and all predictions of doom keep refusing to manifest.

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jambalaya808/18/2026

fwiw I enjoy AI. but it is extraordinarily dangerous and does not belong in the hands of most people, and definitely not in the hands of most companies. it is a munition.

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kadushka08/17/2026

Everyone I know loves AI. It is actively making their lives better. All kinds of people, all kind of ages - universally love it and use it every day for all kind of stuff (shopping, health, learning, home improvement, etc, etc).

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threethirtytwo08/17/2026

I think the thing people can't face is that it makes our lives worse not because it's worse than us.

It makes our lives worse because it is better. It is superior. And our lives are worse because it is actively replacing us and we are actively trying to keep up with it.

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