✧✦Catherine✦✧
one of the biggest misconceptions about microchips people have is that the process is anything close to "fully automatic"
it really isn't. i mean, some operations are, but look at this video! there's a human like every other step of the process. and it's not like this is some expensive unique device. they're making mass-market LEDs by the reel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5--LfHdshco
✧✦Catherine✦✧
this is a part of why all these coked up dreams about a dangerous superintelligence springing to life in a singularity event is just that: delusions. we could always just stop making the chips, yknow?
✧✦Catherine✦✧
(this is to say nothing about much human labor is involved in making, say, steppers. even just _setting one up_ in a fully prepared environment is thousands of hours before it starts doing anything useful)
Peter Brett
@whitequark Pull the particle filters from a modern fab's air conditioning system for 15 minutes and that fab will never be making anything ever again.
My understanding is that much of the equipment will be functionally *destroyed*.
✧✦Catherine✦✧
@oblomov eh, it's not like fabs in the US work on fundamentally different rules
Oblomov
@whitequark we need some kind of acronym for “fully automatic” that we can backtranslate to “some overworked laborer in China” similar to AGI = Another Guy in India
✧✦Catherine✦✧
"... and here's where we optimize our LEDs for something that definitely isn't growing weed..."
✧✦Catherine✦✧
@f4grx yes. But their customers will be growing weed
F4GRX Sébastien
@whitequark these are tomatoes
Peter Brett
@whitequark I need to clarify:
- “15 minutes” is probably an underestimate
- parts of the silicon production line are less sensitive to particulate contamination than others
- there are failsafe systems to protect against making this mistake by accident
- with sufficient time and effort some facilities/machines can be restored to use
Josh Simmons
@whitequark in a much lower tech setting I'm also often despairing at the comments on 'how it's made ' food production YouTube videos. Like people totally freaking out about a big stand mixer and conveyors
✧✦Catherine✦✧
@dotstdy freaking out like how
Josh Simmons
@whitequark like "oh that's disgusting I'm never eating a biscuit again"
✧✦Catherine✦✧
@dotstdy ohhhhhh.
would they... not eat home-prepared food?
Josh Simmons
@whitequark I think what a decent cohort expects from food prep is basically a microchip fab
✧✦Catherine✦✧
@ignaloidas yeah, its joke
Ignas Kiela
@whitequark@mastodon.social I have recently seen horticulture LEDs with some green light for "worker comfort" so maybe not only weed?
still suspect a ton of it ends up for weed
Josh Simmons
@whitequark Actually getting around to watching the whole video, and I think one aspect is the way people assume that since there's advanced technology involved, we're like a day away from finally removing all those pesky human parts. But like, it just doesn't make any sense to do that. The machines are there to make the simple repetitive parts incredibly fast, the humans are there to adapt to circumstances, and to robustly handle complex tasks. We're *so, so far* from automating complex stages.
✧✦Catherine✦✧
@dotstdy yep, precisely
jeeger
@whitequark I was discussing this with someone just a few days ago, the amount of "???" happening between "AI" and "Humans are destroyed" is just mind-boggling.
Emil J
@whitequark I actually got some for growing chilli peppers. But every single decent store selling them also sells rolling papers
GNU social JP is a social network, courtesy of GNU social JP管理人. It runs on GNU social, version 2.0.2-dev, available under the GNU Affero General Public License.
All GNU social JP content and data are available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license.