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In the back of my mind, I have a hope that it will lead to the collapse of the platform internet and a return to smaller trusted communities and boards.

di456 4y ago
I see it making a similar progression as ads on radio and tv, homogenized mass media, paid product placements in shows. These AI generated content platforms are perfect for ads and social media propaganda. Mass customization. I share the same hope but have doubts that as a society we'll have the collective critical thinking skills to disconnect from the AI overlords. We've already had the US and US inspired Brazilian coup attempts fueld by social media placements and it's only going to get more fine tuned and effective. What can I do as an individual? One path is to simplify and declutter my digital life. How else to cope?
chefandy 4y ago
I hate being cynical, and I haven't really researched it, but my gut says there is too much invested from the non-tech world at this point in both the public and private sectors. The powers that be would probably rather force us all to asphyxiate on inane AI bullshit spewed out by our increasingly centrally-controlled technical world than cede control of electronic communication. Considering the pressure governments have freely applied to communications companies through policy, public shaming, disinformation, and secret infiltration (e.g. NSA breaking encryption to monitor gmail), and how effectively industry has skirted even the most basic privacy protections for users, I think they'll probably succeed. I don't see any reason to think that things like personal encryption or small community-run fora will change its course any more than legal guns have discouraged the creeping authoritarianism of the US Govt.
shagie 4y ago
That's part of the idea in The Expanding Dark Forest and Generative AI - https://maggieappleton.com/ai-dark-forest https://maggieappleton.com/ai-dark-forest ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34243709 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34243709 - 29 days ago; 419 comments) > The dark forest theory of the web points to the increasingly life-like but life-less state of being online.Dark Forest Theory of the Internet by Yancey Strickler Most open and publicly available spaces on the web are overrun with bots, advertisers, trolls, data scrapers, clickbait, keyword-stuffing “content creators,” and algorithmically manipulated junk. > It's like a dark forest that seems eerily devoid of human life – all the living creatures are hidden beneath the ground or up in trees. If they reveal themselves, they risk being attacked by automated predators. > Humans who want to engage in informal, unoptimised, personal interactions have to hide in closed spaces like invite-only Slack channels, Discord groups, email newsletters, small-scale blogs, and digital gardens. Or make themselves illegible and algorithmically incoherent in public venues.
- altdataseller 4y ago
  … or just talk to people in real life? (Until we have AI generated humans I suppose)

di456 4y ago

I see it making a similar progression as ads on radio and tv, homogenized mass media, paid product placements in shows. These AI generated content platforms are perfect for ads and social media propaganda. Mass customization. I share the same hope but have doubts that as a society we'll have the collective critical thinking skills to disconnect from the AI overlords. We've already had the US and US inspired Brazilian coup attempts fueld by social media placements and it's only going to get more fine tuned and effective. What can I do as an individual? One path is to simplify and declutter my digital life. How else to cope?

chefandy 4y ago

I hate being cynical, and I haven't really researched it, but my gut says there is too much invested from the non-tech world at this point in both the public and private sectors. The powers that be would probably rather force us all to asphyxiate on inane AI bullshit spewed out by our increasingly centrally-controlled technical world than cede control of electronic communication. Considering the pressure governments have freely applied to communications companies through policy, public shaming, disinformation, and secret infiltration (e.g. NSA breaking encryption to monitor gmail), and how effectively industry has skirted even the most basic privacy protections for users, I think they'll probably succeed. I don't see any reason to think that things like personal encryption or small community-run fora will change its course any more than legal guns have discouraged the creeping authoritarianism of the US Govt.

shagie 4y ago

That's part of the idea in The Expanding Dark Forest and Generative AI - https://maggieappleton.com/ai-dark-forest https://maggieappleton.com/ai-dark-forest ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34243709 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34243709 - 29 days ago; 419 comments) > The dark forest theory of the web points to the increasingly life-like but life-less state of being online.Dark Forest Theory of the Internet by Yancey Strickler Most open and publicly available spaces on the web are overrun with bots, advertisers, trolls, data scrapers, clickbait, keyword-stuffing “content creators,” and algorithmically manipulated junk. > It's like a dark forest that seems eerily devoid of human life – all the living creatures are hidden beneath the ground or up in trees. If they reveal themselves, they risk being attacked by automated predators. > Humans who want to engage in informal, unoptimised, personal interactions have to hide in closed spaces like invite-only Slack channels, Discord groups, email newsletters, small-scale blogs, and digital gardens. Or make themselves illegible and algorithmically incoherent in public venues.

altdataseller 4y ago
… or just talk to people in real life? (Until we have AI generated humans I suppose)