• hypnicjerk@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    it’s fucking ghoulish that these salesmen treat a college commencement as just another platform to push their product and grow hype

    • merc@sh.itjust.works
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      3 days ago

      I don’t think Schmidt is doing that. He’s just drunk the Kool-Aid.

      He’s a multi-billionaire either way. For him it’s not about making more money. It’s about his self-image as an important guy in tech who was still on the cutting edge at 71. I don’t think he thinks he’s important or relevant enough to shape the future anymore. I think he just wants to be seen as someone who can be invited to conferences and public speaking events because he’s still relevant.

      IMO that’s a really, really big part of the AI ecosystem. A lot of executives are implementing AI at their companies because they’re afraid they’re going to be seen as old fuddy duddies who didn’t know that the world had changed.

      For most of these commencement speakers, it’s more of an “emperor has no clothes” situation than it is a conspiracy to pump up the stock price.

        • merc@sh.itjust.works
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          2 days ago

          When you’re that rich, there are things that matter more than more money. Money is good, but more important is power, respect, etc.

          • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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            2 days ago

            They want more of everything. They want more power, more respect, and more money. They want it all. They want everything.

            They’re hungry ghosts, they just want more and more forever and ever to fill the empty screaming void at the core of their being.

          • hypnicjerk@lemmy.world
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            2 days ago

            i don’t think you get that rich without your entire brain being rewired to treat money AS power, respect, etc.

            • merc@sh.itjust.works
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              2 days ago

              Maybe. But, that doesn’t mean that you look at a commencement speech to pump up AI stocks. It’s more likely that you look at that kind of a speech as a way to prove to the world how smart and influential you are.