Ed Zitron, the British sceptic behind the podcast Better Offline and newsletter Where's Your Ed At, has become one of the loudest critics of the artificial intelligence boom. With over 80,000 subscribers to his newsletter and a growing online following, Zitron argues that generative AI is overhyped and lacks a viable business model.
Zitron first examined generative AI in 2023, shortly after the launch of ChatGPT. He claims that large language models (LLMs) do not perform as promised and have no clear path to becoming profitable. “Nothing I found made any suggestion that this was a real business at all, let alone something that would supposedly change the world,” he said.
The critic points to the technology's persistent flaws, including hallucination and inconsistency. “The current generation of AI large language models will not be wiping out jobs,” Zitron stated. “They’re basically the same as they were a year ago. Every attempt to make them autonomous has failed.”
He dismisses the notion that LLMs constitute genuine intelligence, comparing them to dice. “Large language models use large-scale probability to generate the next token. We would not credit an Excel formula with intelligence, and we should not credit generative AI as intelligent,” he argued.
Zitron has laid out his thesis in a 19,000-word essay, highlighting both the technological shortcomings and the shaky financial foundations of the AI industry. He draws parallels to the 2008 financial crisis, positioning himself as a contrarian voice warning of a potential bust.
