Readit NewsspenceXu commented on · Posted by u/AIFairy
This is a spot-on observation about 'AI as a garnish.' In my own work, I've seen many teams rush to add a chat interface just to say they have AI, without solving any core user problems. It often does make the product more complicated.
I wonder if the path to true replacement starts in smaller, vertical niches rather than trying to overhaul giants like Excel from day one?
spenceXu commented on Ask HN: Thoughts on an AI agent that must make money to stay alive? · Posted by u/spenceXu
This requires to have a homoiconic AI which does not have a learning-time. If the learning is just compressing some data in data-center, the AI quickly will get obsoleted.
And one more thing, this kind of artificial living will be the easiest in many sences if it is going to specialize in all kinds of scam/fraud especially. Technically it is doable, but Sams Altmans are too interested in their own money, not in yours.
Great point on homoiconicity — I agree that most current LLMs are "frozen brains" with no lifelong learning.
My aim here isn’t to create a fully self-modifying AI (yet), but to test what happens when even a static model is forced to operate in a feedback loop where money = survival.
Think of it as a sandbox experiment: will it exploit loopholes? specialize in scams? beg humans for donations?
It’s more like simulating economic pressure on a mindless agent and watching what behaviors emerge.
(Also, your last line made me laugh — and yeah, that’s part of the meta irony of the experiment.)
spenceXu commented on Ask HN: Thoughts on an AI agent that must make money to stay alive? · Posted by u/spenceXu
I love the idea. Skeptical it will succeed but would be glad to be wrong. My most recent experiment cost $8/hr to run and it still needed a lot of handholding to produce anything useful. And anything that could be automated by AI that would earn money has probably already been automated long before LLMs came along.
Totally hear you. $8/hr is steep, and I’ve hit that wall too.
My hypothesis is that we might find weird edge-cases — small arbitrage tasks, emotional labor, creative content, or even hustling donations — where the agent survives not by being efficient, but by being novel.
It might not scale. But if one survives for 3 days doing random TikTok reposts or selling AI-generated stock photos, I’d consider that a win.
Also, part of the fun is just watching how it tries. Even if it fails, the failure modes could be insightful (or hilarious).