Generative AI is for the idea guys

When I started working in tech in the early 2010s I began running in to idea guys¹. Upon discovering I was a developer, they would get very excited and pitch me their big idea for an app/website/service to see what I thought.

After receiving a polite reaction they would often say something like: “I think it would do really well, if I could only figure out how to get it made”. Like the idea was the main thing that mattered, and the pesky task of actually building it was an insignificant little bump along the road to success. At this point I would usually tell them that ideas are worth nothing, until they are implemented.

You see, I am not an idea person, a dreamer or a wantrepeneur. I’m a maker, a builder, an engineer, a tinkerer and a toiler. Also: a crusher of idea guys’ dreams. If anyone, ever suggests some wonderful idea (for anything, not just tech) my brain immediately goes to implementation details. It’s just how I’m wired.

Generative AI is like the ultimate idea guy’s idea! Imagine… if all they needed to create a business, software or art was their great idea, and a computer. No need to engage (or pay) any of those annoying makers who keep talking about limitations, scope, standards, artistic integrity etc. etc.

The suggestion that some word/picture guessing machine could actually do what I and other creators do is A. offensive and B. obviously just another fantastical idea. The implementation is what matters… and I’m not convinced the idea guys in Silicon Valley are going to figure it out.

Footnotes

1. Sorry to be so gendered but it was literally always men. ↩