Tim Bray
Canadian software developer and writer, co-editor of the XML and Atom specifications and formerly of Sun Microsystems, Google and AWS. Has written the blog ongoing since 2003.
Tim Bray did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
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Our reading
The biggest problem with generative AI is ethical and economic, not what it can or cannot do.
Their wordsFor me (and I’m not alone), the biggest issue isn’t what GenAI can and can’t do, it’s the ethical and economic discomforts.
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Their wordsThis technology is being peddled by terrible people who are rich and whose goal is to get richer. It’s bought and deployed by terrible people who want to slash their payrolls by throwing thought workers onto the street.
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Their wordsCode, in the LLM-pre-bubble-pop era, is cheap. Time is still expensive.
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Their wordsBut I bet that it’d burn a whole lot of tokens, which means routing money to bad people with bad goals. So once again, I’m not going to do it with LLMs.
- 6 days earlier
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Their wordsIf you believe, as I do, that the bubble is going to pop soon and loudly, it’s going to be desperate times when SpaceX’s valuation collapses and it can’t borrow billions to keep the doors open.
- 3 weeks earlier
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Our reading
'The purpose of a system is what it does' is mostly wrong and almost always counterproductive.
Their words“The purpose of a system is what it does.” Such a neat little turn of phrase; it makes you sound wise and cynical and like a person who sees through things. But it’s mostly wrong and almost always counterproductive.
↗The Purpose Isn’t What It Doestbray.org 1st of 2 in this piece
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Our reading
The purpose of generative AI is to increase the wealth of a tiny handful of already-wealthy people.
Their wordsThe purpose of GenAI IS to increase the wealth of a tiny handful of already-wealthy people.
↗The Purpose Isn’t What It Doestbray.org 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 6 days earlier
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Their wordsI’m a leftist (but not that weird) and I think regulation and standardization of LLM-land are a waste of effort at this point in history. Because money.
↗Regulate and Standardize AI? Nope.tbray.org 1st of 6 in this piece
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Their wordsFirst, the only sector today where there are large numbers of people willing to pay substantial sums for access to AI services is software. Software people are roughly 1% of the global workforce, which isn't enough to move the financial needle.
↗Regulate and Standardize AI? Nope.tbray.org 2nd of 6 in this piece
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Their wordsFor the other 99%, are they (or their employers) willing to pay enough for AI goods and services to turn a profit on the global multi-trillion-dollar investment surge? I could be wrong but I don't think so.
↗Regulate and Standardize AI? Nope.tbray.org 3rd of 6 in this piece
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Their wordsPlease, please, don’t make anyone sit on a committee trying to specify anything about technology that’s so obviously immature.
↗Regulate and Standardize AI? Nope.tbray.org 4th of 6 in this piece
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Our reading
Existing law is enough to hold the makers of harmful AI agents to account; you can sue them.
Their wordsBut I think current law remains a useful tool as-is. If you launch an LLM-backed agent and it causes me serious business or personal damage, I think I can hire a lawyer and sue your ass.
↗Regulate and Standardize AI? Nope.tbray.org 5th of 6 in this piece
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Our reading
Whether to fear AI, or to fear losing your job to it, can only be answered after the AI bubble pops.
Their wordsMy answer is always the same: Wait for the bubble to pop, then we'll find out.
↗Regulate and Standardize AI? Nope.tbray.org 6th of 6 in this piece
- 2 months earlier
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Our reading
Their wordsWhy does email stay reasonably healthy? Because nobody owns it. Anyone on any server can communicate with anyone else on any other. Nobody can buy it and make it a vehicle for their politics.
↗Mastodon, The Only Good Choicetbray.org 1st of 5 in this piece
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Their wordsMigration is probably Mastodon’s most important feature. It’s why no billionaire can buy it and no corporation can enshittify it.
↗Mastodon, The Only Good Choicetbray.org 2nd of 5 in this piece
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Their wordsHere’s an axiom: An ad-supported service can’t have sex-positive or explicit content.
↗Mastodon, The Only Good Choicetbray.org 3rd of 5 in this piece
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Our reading
Commercial social-media feed algorithms have one goal only: maximize engagement and thus revenue.
Their wordsThe algorithms that commercial social-media services use to sort your feed have one goal only: Maximize engagement and thus revenue. They have no concern for quality or morality, and have been widely condemned by people who think about this stuff.
↗Mastodon, The Only Good Choicetbray.org 4th of 5 in this piece
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Our reading
Their wordsSecond, I think it’s inevitable that Bluesky-the-company will indeed go sour.
↗Mastodon, The Only Good Choicetbray.org 5th of 5 in this piece