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> Since April, monthly commits have grown from 1.4 billion to 2.9 billion Bonkers. You can tell the entire industry is in a "productivity panic" and here's mo

> Since April, monthly commits have grown from 1.4 billion to 2.9 billion Bonkers. You can tell the entire industry is in a "productivity panic" and here's more proof. There's a velocity zealot crying tears of joy somewhere.

dapperdrake 28d ago
Cry in story points. Like a real scrum master level 9000.
kulahan 28d ago
There's something poetic about a company that's leading in the realm of funding, researching, using, selling, etc. AI is actively watching the destruction of one of its core products due, in large part, to that same AI they're selling.
ethagnawl 28d ago
Bonkers is right. Where in those ~12 billion commits is the software, products and "innovations" which are supposed to be making our lives better? Software and apps in particular are getting worse, normies hate AI more than ever because they're even less likely to get their desired outcome when calling their doctor or trying to get their online order refunded when chatting with a cutely named chatbot, wages for (most) knowledge work are being driven through the floor, artists are being squeezed more than ever, etc., etc. That's to say nothing of the existential threats to the economy, environment and critical thinking which are growing daily. I really think we've lost the plot, folks.
- peab 28d ago
  This comment comes up over and over again and it's incredibly ignorant. To give just a single example, ai code dev has enabled people to make tools for themselves that they didn't have before. I've made a language learning app for myself. Its working better than Duolingo so far, for me. Its not really public
  - centuryfall 27d ago
    It’s really not ignorant at all when a large majority of these changes go untested.
  - georgel 28d ago
    On the topic of translation/ language learning, I still find Google Translate better for when I need to type emails in Russian (my older family who only speak it) as far as grammar is concerned than what LLMs spit out.
    - sznio 28d ago
      The transformer was invented as a machine-translation algorithm, later adapted to create LLMs. I think it's a reasonable hypothesis that a ML system designed for translation will always beat an LLM role-playing a translation system (assuming equal computing power and engineer effort). We're going to see is a lot of stuff people use LLMs for moving back to using bespoke algorithms solving the one specific issue. LLMs are just machine learning unlocked for the masses, where you can ask it "translate this for me", "what's the sentiment of this text", and it just does it. Any of these were already achievable before LLMs, they just needed a machine learning engineer to implement. I myself started an LLM driven project to classify and sort all the photos I've got. I just ask an LLM to poop out tags for an image. Using a proper algorithm for this is possible, but I'd need to put in some effort to actually get it set up. LLMs do make it easier since they can directly, instructively help you that set up, and provide an easy stream of training data to distill out a model perfectly fit to your usecase. I think majority of work currently going through LLMs is such inefficient tasks that can be solved quicker and better with a limited algorithm. You don't need a chatbot.
    - sfdfsdfsd 28d ago
      I'd be surprised if Google Translate isn't powered by a specialized, Transformer-powered model we would now recognize as a "small" language model heavily constrained to a specific task.
      - fragmede 27d ago
- sandos 28d ago
  As a hobby I am playing around with mesh radios using Lora. Let me tell you, it is _silly_ the amount of vibe-coded software in this area is popping up every week. Is the software duplicated? To an extremely large extent, yes. It is useful? Yes, but each piece of software seems to have a smaller and smaller audience, and quality is often severely lacking. Iv'e done my own, too, for "RF debugging" as I called it to look into SNR issues related to interference. The software getting produced is likely useful _somewhere_, its just that youre not going to notice it. Are we just moving towards personalised digital assistants for everyone, which in turn will produce software to function? Not unlikely.
  - m4rtink 28d ago
    Yeah, a lot of the software around MeshCore people have created seems heavily vibe coded (since got used to having press a button multiple times until it works) & the community seems to be surprisingly non-critical to "AI" technologies. Is it just about timing or something else ?
- chrisjj 27d ago
  > Where in those ~12 billion commits is the software, products and "innovations" which are supposed to be making our lives better? Where is anything saying there should be? If they were all private hobby projects, you'd have no grounds for complaint.
  - ethagnawl 27d ago
    > Where is anything saying there should be? What are the boosters ranting and raving about if not the above? Am I just confused and the end game for all of the AI hype, investment, infrastructure build out, etc. over the last N years is ... hobby projects? Here's a quote I found after a quick web search for "dario ai benefits": > The list of positive applications of powerful AI is extremely long (and includes robotics, manufacturing, energy, and much more), but I’m going to focus on a small number of areas that seem to me to have the greatest potential to directly improve the quality of human life. The five categories I am most excited about are: > Biology and physical health > Neuroscience and mental health > Economic development and poverty > Peace and governance > Work and meaning https://darioamodei.com/essay/machines-of-loving-grace https://darioamodei.com/essay/machines-of-loving-grace
    - jodrellblank 27d ago
      It's hard to separate out the hype from the results, but if you think none of that's being tried or worked on then you're the Ostrich with your head in the sand. Mayo Clinic says AI models help detect pancreatic cancer on CT scans 3 years before clinical diagnosis.[1] Breast Cancer.org says emerging research shows AI might spot cancers in mammograms that radiologists might miss[2]. Nature.com has a paper conclusing that AI (in various forms) have "already revolutionised the diagnosis, prognosis, screening, biomarker discovery" of cancers.[3] Cancer.gov says NCI scientists are using AI to improve cervical cancer screening with deep learning and digital images[4]. Dr David Burns offers his Teams CBT therapy with an LLM based app for people who can't afford therapist visits[5]. U. Chicago says that AI weather forecasts can be faster and cheaper than supercomputer-based physical simulations and produce results weeks ahead, which makes accurate forecasts affordable and available for farmers in middle-income countries[6]. With your smartphone camera you can get an AI-assisted bike-fit at home[7]. You can get a bike fitness training plan[8] and performance analysis with an AI that you can chat with to analyse and explain or change it, used by three professional cycling teams. Prophix Australia analyse photos of powerlines taken by helicopter using AI to track assets and identify and verify potential faults[9]. AI systems scan images for early signs of plant disease in the vineyards of the Swiss Alps [also 9]. AI systems analyze multispectral images and satellite images of crops to detect nutrient deficiencies or pest problems in large farms[also 9]. In 2020 - 2022 a trial of a system in a hospital to identify patients at risk of sepsis helped medics treat them 2 hours earlier and reduced the death rate from sepsis by 18%.[10] Self-driving cars now exist. Camera drones which follow you and respond to gestures now exist. [1] https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-ai-detects-pancreatic-cancer-up-to-3-years-before-diagnosis-in-landmark-validation-study/ https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-ai... [2] https://www.breastcancer.org/screening-testing/artificial-intelligence https://www.breastcancer.org/screening-testing/artificial-in... [3] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41698-026-01276-6#Sec17 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41698-026-01276-6#Sec17 [4] https://www.cancer.gov/research/infrastructure/artificial-intelligence https://www.cancer.gov/research/infrastructure/artificial-in... [5] https://www.feelinggoodapp.com/ https://www.feelinggoodapp.com/ [6] https://climate.uchicago.edu/insights/ai-is-transforming-weather-forecasting-and-that-could-be-a-game-changer-for-farmers-around-the-world/ https://climate.uchicago.edu/insights/ai-is-transforming-wea... [7] https://www.myvelofit.com/ https://www.myvelofit.com/ [8] https://analog.io/sports https://analog.io/sports [9] https://medium.com/design-bootcamp/what-has-ai-ever-done-for-us-d985032b19a4 https://medium.com/design-bootcamp/what-has-ai-ever-done-for... [10] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/algorithm-that-detects-sepsis-cut-deaths-by-nearly-20-percent/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/algorithm-that-de...
ryanchants 28d ago
Is it a "productivity panic"? I'm personally pushing a lot more commits because I'm spending more time playing around with ideas on side projects. Is this all wasted if commits drop in a few months because folks are just pushing a lot now to figure out what works and what doesn't and we eventually settle into something between where we are now and where we were a year ago?
mrweasel 28d ago
Crazy how more code haven't really yielded better products. Who would have guess that the number of lines of code wasn't the problem. Except that very basic tools that I use daily, pretty much every piece of software has become worse in the past few years. The closer to the consumer the software sits, the worse the quality is becoming.
- chrisjj 27d ago
  > Crazy how more code haven't really yielded better products Crazy how anyone would think it would.

dapperdrake 28d ago

Cry in story points. Like a real scrum master level 9000.

kulahan 28d ago

There's something poetic about a company that's leading in the realm of funding, researching, using, selling, etc. AI is actively watching the destruction of one of its core products due, in large part, to that same AI they're selling.

ethagnawl 28d ago

Bonkers is right. Where in those ~12 billion commits is the software, products and "innovations" which are supposed to be making our lives better? Software and apps in particular are getting worse, normies hate AI more than ever because they're even less likely to get their desired outcome when calling their doctor or trying to get their online order refunded when chatting with a cutely named chatbot, wages for (most) knowledge work are being driven through the floor, artists are being squeezed more than ever, etc., etc. That's to say nothing of the existential threats to the economy, environment and critical thinking which are growing daily. I really think we've lost the plot, folks.

peab 28d ago
This comment comes up over and over again and it's incredibly ignorant. To give just a single example, ai code dev has enabled people to make tools for themselves that they didn't have before. I've made a language learning app for myself. Its working better than Duolingo so far, for me. Its not really public
- centuryfall 27d ago
  It’s really not ignorant at all when a large majority of these changes go untested.
- georgel 28d ago
  On the topic of translation/ language learning, I still find Google Translate better for when I need to type emails in Russian (my older family who only speak it) as far as grammar is concerned than what LLMs spit out.
  - sznio 28d ago
    The transformer was invented as a machine-translation algorithm, later adapted to create LLMs. I think it's a reasonable hypothesis that a ML system designed for translation will always beat an LLM role-playing a translation system (assuming equal computing power and engineer effort). We're going to see is a lot of stuff people use LLMs for moving back to using bespoke algorithms solving the one specific issue. LLMs are just machine learning unlocked for the masses, where you can ask it "translate this for me", "what's the sentiment of this text", and it just does it. Any of these were already achievable before LLMs, they just needed a machine learning engineer to implement. I myself started an LLM driven project to classify and sort all the photos I've got. I just ask an LLM to poop out tags for an image. Using a proper algorithm for this is possible, but I'd need to put in some effort to actually get it set up. LLMs do make it easier since they can directly, instructively help you that set up, and provide an easy stream of training data to distill out a model perfectly fit to your usecase. I think majority of work currently going through LLMs is such inefficient tasks that can be solved quicker and better with a limited algorithm. You don't need a chatbot.
  - sfdfsdfsd 28d ago
    I'd be surprised if Google Translate isn't powered by a specialized, Transformer-powered model we would now recognize as a "small" language model heavily constrained to a specific task.
    - fragmede 27d ago
sandos 28d ago
As a hobby I am playing around with mesh radios using Lora. Let me tell you, it is _silly_ the amount of vibe-coded software in this area is popping up every week. Is the software duplicated? To an extremely large extent, yes. It is useful? Yes, but each piece of software seems to have a smaller and smaller audience, and quality is often severely lacking. Iv'e done my own, too, for "RF debugging" as I called it to look into SNR issues related to interference. The software getting produced is likely useful _somewhere_, its just that youre not going to notice it. Are we just moving towards personalised digital assistants for everyone, which in turn will produce software to function? Not unlikely.
- m4rtink 28d ago
  Yeah, a lot of the software around MeshCore people have created seems heavily vibe coded (since got used to having press a button multiple times until it works) & the community seems to be surprisingly non-critical to "AI" technologies. Is it just about timing or something else ?
chrisjj 27d ago
> Where in those ~12 billion commits is the software, products and "innovations" which are supposed to be making our lives better? Where is anything saying there should be? If they were all private hobby projects, you'd have no grounds for complaint.
- ethagnawl 27d ago
  > Where is anything saying there should be? What are the boosters ranting and raving about if not the above? Am I just confused and the end game for all of the AI hype, investment, infrastructure build out, etc. over the last N years is ... hobby projects? Here's a quote I found after a quick web search for "dario ai benefits": > The list of positive applications of powerful AI is extremely long (and includes robotics, manufacturing, energy, and much more), but I’m going to focus on a small number of areas that seem to me to have the greatest potential to directly improve the quality of human life. The five categories I am most excited about are: > Biology and physical health > Neuroscience and mental health > Economic development and poverty > Peace and governance > Work and meaning https://darioamodei.com/essay/machines-of-loving-grace https://darioamodei.com/essay/machines-of-loving-grace
  - jodrellblank 27d ago
    It's hard to separate out the hype from the results, but if you think none of that's being tried or worked on then you're the Ostrich with your head in the sand. Mayo Clinic says AI models help detect pancreatic cancer on CT scans 3 years before clinical diagnosis.[1] Breast Cancer.org says emerging research shows AI might spot cancers in mammograms that radiologists might miss[2]. Nature.com has a paper conclusing that AI (in various forms) have "already revolutionised the diagnosis, prognosis, screening, biomarker discovery" of cancers.[3] Cancer.gov says NCI scientists are using AI to improve cervical cancer screening with deep learning and digital images[4]. Dr David Burns offers his Teams CBT therapy with an LLM based app for people who can't afford therapist visits[5]. U. Chicago says that AI weather forecasts can be faster and cheaper than supercomputer-based physical simulations and produce results weeks ahead, which makes accurate forecasts affordable and available for farmers in middle-income countries[6]. With your smartphone camera you can get an AI-assisted bike-fit at home[7]. You can get a bike fitness training plan[8] and performance analysis with an AI that you can chat with to analyse and explain or change it, used by three professional cycling teams. Prophix Australia analyse photos of powerlines taken by helicopter using AI to track assets and identify and verify potential faults[9]. AI systems scan images for early signs of plant disease in the vineyards of the Swiss Alps [also 9]. AI systems analyze multispectral images and satellite images of crops to detect nutrient deficiencies or pest problems in large farms[also 9]. In 2020 - 2022 a trial of a system in a hospital to identify patients at risk of sepsis helped medics treat them 2 hours earlier and reduced the death rate from sepsis by 18%.[10] Self-driving cars now exist. Camera drones which follow you and respond to gestures now exist. [1] https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-ai-detects-pancreatic-cancer-up-to-3-years-before-diagnosis-in-landmark-validation-study/ https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-ai... [2] https://www.breastcancer.org/screening-testing/artificial-intelligence https://www.breastcancer.org/screening-testing/artificial-in... [3] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41698-026-01276-6#Sec17 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41698-026-01276-6#Sec17 [4] https://www.cancer.gov/research/infrastructure/artificial-intelligence https://www.cancer.gov/research/infrastructure/artificial-in... [5] https://www.feelinggoodapp.com/ https://www.feelinggoodapp.com/ [6] https://climate.uchicago.edu/insights/ai-is-transforming-weather-forecasting-and-that-could-be-a-game-changer-for-farmers-around-the-world/ https://climate.uchicago.edu/insights/ai-is-transforming-wea... [7] https://www.myvelofit.com/ https://www.myvelofit.com/ [8] https://analog.io/sports https://analog.io/sports [9] https://medium.com/design-bootcamp/what-has-ai-ever-done-for-us-d985032b19a4 https://medium.com/design-bootcamp/what-has-ai-ever-done-for... [10] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/algorithm-that-detects-sepsis-cut-deaths-by-nearly-20-percent/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/algorithm-that-de...

ryanchants 28d ago

Is it a "productivity panic"? I'm personally pushing a lot more commits because I'm spending more time playing around with ideas on side projects. Is this all wasted if commits drop in a few months because folks are just pushing a lot now to figure out what works and what doesn't and we eventually settle into something between where we are now and where we were a year ago?

mrweasel 28d ago

Crazy how more code haven't really yielded better products. Who would have guess that the number of lines of code wasn't the problem. Except that very basic tools that I use daily, pretty much every piece of software has become worse in the past few years. The closer to the consumer the software sits, the worse the quality is becoming.

chrisjj 27d ago
> Crazy how more code haven't really yielded better products Crazy how anyone would think it would.