alt Hacker NewsI'm also not sure how that ended up the definition of real freedom. Maybe some Spinoza is in order but genuine freedom is proper understanding of one's own, and others, nature and causes. That is to say one is free to the extent that one has adequate knowledge.
To live in ignorance, that is to be pushed, pulled or compelled by what you don't understand, for example because you've outsourced your life to the magical mystery programming box, is in his terminology bondage.
Which also explains why all these AI psychosis people sound like crack addicts. Stallman is still completely correct about what software freedom is
I would guess that for most people AI still promotes this definition of freedom.
The modern world is too complex for anyone to understand all topics fully. So as a result of this cognitive cap, by Spinoza's definition people have grown progressively less free for centuries. AI can, for anyone who seeks it, allow easy access to fields where they previously would have to consult with a human expert in order to begin to understand. Coding agents arguably make coding more accessible then it's ever been, it's just that as a side effect they make understanding less necessary to produce software (and thus also less valuable). Any schmuck can now ask an agent "hey how does this program work" and get a competent answer in terms they can parse. Of course, most people do not do this. Human beings, as a general rule, do not do things they don't have to. But the option is there.
As a board saturated with experts, people here on HN don't tend to appreciate what kind of incredible super power vibe coding is for people who did not pursue an education and career in software engineering. Everything that a computer can do is now accessible to everyone. As the vast majority of people on earth would not and could not spend the time and effort to understand software (or simply don't have the talent to do so), this is a pure upgrade in terms of average freedom.