Seems like these days the advice is simple, YC only cares about AIs not human beings, so be sure to tell how your startup will help make the AI bubble bigger before it pops
There are an ungodly number of AI based submissions, if the pool consists of for example 80% AI based, it stands to reason YC will probably be choosing between a lot of AI tech. Almost like survivor bias.
If the new trend of submissions is AI, I don't see why YC should say : "No we want to improve humanity" . Doesn't seem like that's their interest really.
PG et al probably care more for returns than quality - not saying that’s intrinsically good or bad - but that’s not at all the ideal many hold him as.
Either way I don't think it's a bad thing, small startups should have the ability to flourish and fail. I am just surprised it's all AI at the moment when we still have problems left unsolved.
It's obvious to me that AI technology is good for anyone getting rich off it, but like, our industry is the joke of the country right now. It's like the whole industry has shut its doors: everything it once built or believed or championed has been replaced with the idea that humans aren't good enough. Show me that YC still believes at least ONE other thing!
In the background there's an ongoing debate of whether AI will lead to a utopia or a dystopia. There's not much of a middle-ground.