Linux's creator, Linus Torvalds, believes that AI at this stage is "90% marketing" and that the massive industry hype is downplaying the technology's potential.
Linus Torvalds Believes That AI Is Only "10% Reality" Right Now,
Torvalds is pretty famous for his remarks about industry trends and developments, and he talks about them in a specific way. Just recently, Linux's creator commented on how AMD, Intel, and others are the sole reason for bugs on the platform, so he is pretty creative with what he comments on. In an interview at the Open Source Summit with TFIR, Torvalds commented on the AI hype and how the technology has been shadowed by the aggressive marketing being done by the tech giants out there. Here is what he had to say:
I think AI is really interesting and I think it is going to change the world. At the same time, I hate the hype cycle so much that I really don’t want to go there.
So, my approach to AI right now is I will basically ignore it because I think the whole tech industry around AI is in a very bad position, and its 90% marketing and 10% reality. And, in 5 years, things will change and at that point, we will see what of the AI is getting used for real workloads.
This is a pretty interesting take on the AI hype. From a broader perspective, Torvalds' stance isn't entirely wrong here since many of the AI startups are "shilling" the technology without having a proper "AI-infused" workload established. Hence, the hype is definitely top-notch this time around.
The "90-10" ratio by Linux's creator is a controversial take since AI, despite being mainstream for less than five years, has established serious grounds for innovating market segments, notably AI chatbots and automated responses.
Linus Torvalds says AI will change the world but it is currently 90% marketing and 10% reality, and it will take another 5 years for it to become clear what AI is really useful for pic.twitter.com/6knFEfJbqf
— Tsarathustra (@tsarnick) October 21, 2024
But Linus Torvalds hasn't completely given up on the technology, saying that AI has proper "use-cases," but the technology is too busy in the marketing process that it hasn't translated into the stage where we see the implementation of "real workloads." So, in summary, Linux's creator isn't too interested in catching the AI bandwagon, but with counterparts such as Microsoft's Windows rapidly infusing the technology in its platform, will Linux be able to catch the bandwagon, or rather end up missing it?
About the author: Muhammad Zuhair is a hardware and technology reporter for Wccftech, specializing in the semiconductor industry and the complex interplay between technology, manufacturing, and geopolitics. His coverage focuses on the corporate strategies and technological roadmaps of industry giants like TSMC, NVIDIA, Samsung, and Intel. Zuhair's expertise lies in deconstructing complex topics such as fabrication nodes (e.g., 2nm process), the economic impact of policies like the CHIPS Act, and the strategic development of AI infrastructure from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.
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