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I just watched DeepSeek create a video game from a few prompts. And it is becoming clear that thanks to AI, anything we can conceive of that can be created by software is inevitably going to become ubiquitous, and thus valueless. Isn't it only a matter of time before a Microsoft Word or Excel clone can be generated and delivered without having to pay Microsoft? If so, is this not true for any software at all (at least those not subject to the strict engineering QA requirements for safety-critical systems like commercial aircraft)?
If AI really can make all software cheaper, with extremely rapid development times, where does this lead us? Where do people add unique value?
I think the value of people moves away from software (beyond running the inputs and outputs to AI itself). And it moves back into traditional hardware - everywhere AI and automation cannot penetrate. Blue collar jobs, construction. In high tech, the "cookbook" sciences like steel making and metallurgies... everything that only a craftsman can do.
Because not everything in the world is software.
Is this right?
Discussion (54)
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To follow... if AI can produce any software, then what unique value does Word or X or Facebook even offer, besides an inertial customer base?
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The inertial customer base (aka the 'network effect') is hugely important. Suppose it were possible to create an equivalent of Ricochet with a few prompts. You'd still have a long road ahead to build a community interested in communicating with & interacting with one another.
OTOH, suppose it were easy to use AI prompts to improve search for Ricochet posts relevant to a particular topic...that would add value to the customer base that already exists.
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It sure would.
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I used a LLM to create a post, with several follow-on prompts to improve it: Retrotech: An Automated Flour Mill in 1785.
And I used a different LLM to bring a historical individual, a noted diarist, into the present where she continued her diary: LLM Time Travel: Fanny Kemble in 2024.
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This will be very interesting...
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