On Generative AI and LLMs

I wanted to have a post that I could point to when people ask why I don't use or like GenAI/LLMs. I had to restart this one a few times because it kept growing too long and full of links and I don't need that because many many people have already written many words about all the problems with GenAI. (Note: I dislike how the term "artifical intelligence" has been completely co-opted as a marketing term by these big companies. The field of artifical intelligence existed decades before the concept of large language models and generative AI. I always take the time to use the term "GenAI" were possible to be more precise.) The major problems for me (from most egregious to least) are: Resource Usage. There's the energy and water consumption, further straining our already struggling planet. Trillions spent on investments and data centers that could have been used solving problems like poverty or inequality. The rush for data centers drives up the prices of RAM and hard drives, making…