alt Hacker News(I am not an expert on anything.) One happy circumstance here is that while the RAM cartel is chasing Big AI's money today, in the medium term its self-interest probably makes it a supporter of local AI. A new, compelling reason to have 128GiB, 256GiB or more of VRAM on all your devices? You can be sure that the dollar signs are glowing in their eyes already. The less efficient use of VRAM by personal devies (any given device's VRAM will be mostly idle much of the time) tends to make it more attractive, all else being equal (though of course it isn't) compared to the centralised systems run by engineers and accountants striving all day to maximise ROI; and in any case, since the short-run supply constraints on RAM go away in the longer term, the RAM manufacturers will be able to supply both. My guess is that you can probably also also explain Apple's AI strategy (sit tight and wait for Moore's Law to make local AI more viable) and maybe even nVidia's (lay the groundwork for a gradual switch from selling shovels to the army to selling shovels at Home Depot over time, at least as a Plan B) in similar terms.
Just because we'll have to pay for the hardware, doesn't mean we'll have meaningful control. Look at what happened with phones - weak and limited slaves to the mothership, secured against pesky users with powerful encryption, yet costing more than a vastly superior laptop; quasi-mandatory platforms for highly addictive experiences, centered around the flow of information.
And now with LLMs we can create even more fabulously addictive experiences, even more finely tuned information flows, even more treacherous servants. I very much doubt that we'll be allowed full control of it all. Every effort will be spent to centralize power, and every effort will be spent to extract as much cash as possible from us for the privilege.