'AI' Is Not a Tool by Rich Hickey
Points and comments are a snapshot, not live.
Rich Hickey argues LLMs are not tools because they lack control, feedback, and continuous direction.
Rich Hickey defines a tool as something you wield with control, sensory feedback, intention, and continuous direction. LLMs, by contrast, are automation: they act on their own without human control. Using an LLM to write code or read papers means abdicating the act of doing. He warns that automation makes users dependent on a capricious system, losing opportunities to learn, build expertise, and think for themselves. Tools are predictable and reliable; LLMs can be misaligned or go rogue.
What commenters are saying
Commenters split into two camps. Some contest Hickey's definitions, arguing software like GDB is a tool, and LLMs can be wielded with careful involvement. Others support his tool-automation distinction, noting that agentic behavior differs from using a hammer. A few commenters observe that LLMs exist on a gradient of toolness to agency, and that calling people tools is an established insult. The author participates, clarifying that conversational LLMs are more like ordering a sandwich than using a tool for making one.