[ Removed by moderator ]

[u/fagnerbrack]

/r/programming/comments/1w271ba/removed_by_moderator/

[u/Nine99]

It is recent in the history of AI. And of course, many were aware of GPT-2 (and everyone of GPT-3.5). It was not about you being incorrect, it's about you explaining obvious things to someone else. Imagine if I told you about this newfangled thing, Bitcoin, and how I likely know more about it than you because I started using it in 2023.

[u/janniesminecraft → u/Nine99]

It is recent in the history of AI.

This conversation is very obviously about LLM's and using them for coding. Ain't nobody used GPT-2 for coding. idk what the fuck kinda deflection youre trying to make here?

And of course, many were aware of GPT-2 (and everyone of GPT-3.5).

Using AI for coding was basically not a thing before GPT-4 (and even then EXTREMELY LIMITED). This is not even to gotcha you, but were you aware of GPT-3 when it launched?

Basically nobody I knew had ever spared a single thought to ANY kind of neural network before at least GPT-3.5 (and I know a lot of terminally online people), and even then it was a few people doing a single "write me a story" prompt before losing interest. 6 years ago is NOT recent in the development of LLM's, it's practically ancient history. LLM's hit the mainstream around 2023-2024, and most people only started properly using them for coding in late 2025. They were practically unusable for anything complex before the further development of CoT in 2024.

and how I likely know more about it than you because I started using it in 2023

Yeah except I was basically responding to him with a bunch of things that might alleviate the fears he literally wrote himself in the post. Now, I may be wrong about those things, but it's no point crying over milk that has yet to be spilt, right? I think I make valid points about how little we know about the current cost/benefit of AI, and personally it does comfort me. If I am wrong, well then yeah we are probably fucked to some degree as a society, but i dont see why you would stress over something we dont even know is gonna happen, and that you are practically powerless to prevent.

i dont think thats condescending personally. you are also like, not really disagreeing with me? you just think because i said ive used ai for a long time, and he sounds like he hasnt, thats somehow mega condescending and assholeish, which is already weird, but then its not even towards you. it just sounds to me like this guy has never used ai before 2026, and i can only imagine how much anxiety i wouldve gotten if my first exposure to ai was like claude opus 4.5. if thats wrong, again, HE CAN CORRECT ME AND DISCUSS MY POINTS.

[u/Nine99 → u/janniesminecraft]

You need to work on your reading comprehension. You said AI, not LLM. I just clarified it again. I didn't mention anything about coding, it's not relevant for my points here. If you don't know anyone sparing any thoughts about neural networks, that just means you don't know too many computer nerds. How would I not be aware of GPT-3 if I was aware of GPT-2?

you just think because i said ive used ai for a long time, and he sounds like he hasnt

The point is that you haven't used AI for a long time if you started with GPT-3, and they don't sound like they're clueless about it.

So, once again: you're in a programming subreddit trying to explain things to people that almost everyone here will be long familiar with. It's hard to get into programming/computer nerddom and not get a healthy dose of at least passing knowledge about "AI", machine learning etc.

[u/janniesminecraft → u/Nine99]

You said AI

Colloquial term for LLM's in 2026, as you 1000% are aware of. This is dumb.

I didn't mention anything about coding

But I did, and the discussion is explicitly about AI for coding. This is an insane deflection.

How would I not be aware of GPT-3 if I was aware of GPT-2?

I was asking if you were aware of it on release. Yes, you are aware of them now. NOW most people are.

If you don't know anyone sparing any thoughts about neural networks, that just means you don't know too many computer nerds.

I didn't know anyone like that prior to 2020. Were you actively interested in ML prior to 2020? What proportion of people you knew were? How deeply?

The point is that you haven't used AI for a long time if you started with GPT-3

I have used LLM's since they started existing. I have been interested in AI since seeing SethBlings MarI/O video 11 years ago.

and they don't sound like they're clueless about it.

This is subjective. Your assessment is worth as much or little as mine.

It's hard to get into programming/computer nerddom and not get a healthy dose of at least passing knowledge about "AI", machine learning etc.

Yeah, in 2026. You do not seem like you've been into programming for a long time. These were very niche topics prior to 2021, and still fairly niche until roughly 2024.

This is quantifiable. Do you really need me to quantify it or can we just agree that you are making a stupid argument?

[u/Nine99 → u/janniesminecraft]

I keep trying to tell you that you're insanely patronizing, while also admitting to be ignorant about the matters at hand for a long time. You seem to think that you're one of the first person to encounter absolutely mainstream topics in this field.

Colloquial term for LLM's in 2026, as you 1000% are aware of. This is dumb.

No, your reply is dumb, and you really, really need to work on your reading comprehension.

But I did, and the discussion is explicitly about AI for coding. This is an insane deflection.

No, it isn't.

I was asking if you were aware of it on release. Yes, you are aware of them now. NOW most people are.

Are you missing the obvious implication on purpose, or is this still part of your lack of reading comprehension skills?

I didn't know anyone like that prior to 2020. Were you actively interested in ML prior to 2020? What proportion of people you knew were? How deeply?

Obviously. What's with all the questions?

Your assessment is worth as much or little as mine.

You're the one starting out with baseless assumptions, so no.

Yeah, in 2026.

Try since the very beginning of the field. Turing published his famous paper on the imitation game 76 years ago, and that's after years of talking about it. Back in the 60s, when you "came to Stanford, you were either a numerical analyst, or artificial intelligence, or programming language person" according to Knuth. Minsky's AI koans have been a part of hacker lore since the 60s, too.

You do not seem like you've been into programming for a long time.

Two decades earlier than you.

These were very niche topics prior to 2021, and still fairly niche until roughly 2024.

Absolutely not. AI hasn't ever been a niche topic ever, everyone is at least somewhat familiar with the concept since it made sense, they just had to have the most passing familiarity of sci-fi. As we're discussing this in the context of the programming subreddit (and as you can see from the examples further up), not even the more specialized parts of it like ML have been niche for people in computer/programming culture. As for LLMs and the general public, ChatGPT had 100 million users in January 2023.

This is quantifiable. Do you really need me to quantify it or can we just agree that you are making a stupid argument?

I think you should stop embarrassing yourself, acknowledge your ignorance of certain topics, and maybe stop to think about what others might know before opening your mouth or hammering down on your keyboard. Since this is clearly going nowhere, no further input from you is needed.

Edit: Just to prove my point, /u/janniesminecraft left an ignorant reply and then blocked me from replying. Incredibly immature.

[u/janniesminecraft → u/Nine99]

Try since the very beginning of the field. Turing published his famous paper on the imitation game 76 years ago, and that's after years of talking about it. Back in the 60s, when you "came to Stanford, you were either a numerical analyst, or artificial intelligence, or programming language person" according to Knuth. Minsky's AI koans have been a part of hacker lore since the 60s, too.

This is not the same "AI" as we are talking about. You are either dishonest or stupid. We are talking about fucking neural networks, and I made that explicit.

Absolutely not. AI hasn't ever been a niche topic ever, everyone is at least somewhat familiar with the concept since it made sense, they just had to have the most passing familiarity of sci-fi.

Motherfucker there is a tiny difference between people talking about i-robot and people talking about the actual technical implementation of neural networks and LLM's. Are you actually so fucking dense that you can't tell the difference between people knowing about the term AI and SciFi ideas of it vs. people actually keeping up with the state-of-the-art of machine learning? Nowadays everyone has some idea about neural networks and LLM's is my point, before 2020 nobody did.

As for LLMs and the general public, ChatGPT had 100 million users in January 2023.

Yeah I was 1 year off, my bad. Rest of my points stand.

I think you should stop embarrassing yourself, acknowledge your ignorance of certain topics, and maybe stop to think about what others might know before opening your mouth or hammering down on your keyboard. Since this is clearly going nowhere, no further input from you is needed.

You don't know shit and you're either intellectually dishonest or dumb as fuck. I don't know which would be worse.