The next 5 years will not be like the last 5 years

When I go back and read the comments from 5-7 years ago, I realized most were wrong and many predicted the world would be completely different by now. I remember reading those comments and being inspired by the idea that AGI would be just a few years away and self-driving cars would be everywhere by the end of the decade.<br><br>I think this community was guilty of being overly optimistic while being influenced by charismatic figures such as Elon Musk, Nick Bostrom, and others. They supercharged everyone’s hope for a more promising future.<br><br>These last two years have made us realize just how far away those technologies are and how much longer it will really take to get to where we want to be. Most predictions made on this subreddit will not come to fruition and I think we need to stop being overly optimistic about these technologies and come back down to earth and realize that if we’re lucky, we’ll see some of these technologies in 15-20 years. I’m not trying to be a buzzkill or just hop on another anti AI bandwagon, but the next 5 years will not be like the last 5 years. <br><br>This is a wake up call for everyone and we need to be more realistic about how long it will really take to get where we want to be.