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AI will win. Just like Napster liberated music, AI will liberate knowledge. Only problem is those creating AI now. It's a silent arms race. Tempered by global i

AI will win. Just like Napster liberated music, AI will liberate knowledge. Only problem is those creating AI now. It's a silent arms race. Tempered by global interest rates. Who will win?

Etheryte 3y ago
I'm not entirely sure if I would agree with what you say about Napster. While for a while what you said was true, these days we're back to most people listening to music in walled gardens like Spotify, Apple Music, etc.
- brookst 3y ago
  The lesson of walled gardens is that people will pay for curation. That’s endlessly irritating to some people, but that doesn’t change the truth of it.
  - pwython 3y ago
    People will pay more for convenience. A music streaming service with access to millions of songs is the same price per month of what a single artist's CD was 20 years ago. Sure, you don't have a cool physical copy, but it's incredibly convenient to search for any song in seconds, play it instantly, and not worry about storage, etc.
    - wincy 3y ago
      And I don’t have to download it, copy it to my phone, make sure the mp3 metadata is correct for the song, and I can view the lyrics, and easily share the song with a friend, and make a playlist. I have a 50GB collection of MP3s on my desktop from my teens and 20s that have been collecting dust because I just use Spotify because it’s convenient.
- Levitz 3y ago
  Spotify was created in a market in which piracy was widespread. I'm not sure we can assume it would have ever been a thing otherwise.
- chpatrick 3y ago
  Spotify/Steam/Netflix only exist in the form they do because piracy is such a compelling alternative.
klabb3 3y ago
Napster was an opinionated (political even) piece of tech built for a specific purpose. AI is not like that. And even if ChatGPT currently gives you something nice, it’s not controlled by you and can be nerfed and extort you. You’d need to make an argument that AI will be good for people. It’s not self evident.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

AI will win. Just like Napster liberated music, AI will liberate knowledge. Only problem is those creating AI now. It's a silent arms race. Tempered by global interest rates. Who will win?

Etheryte 3y ago

I'm not entirely sure if I would agree with what you say about Napster. While for a while what you said was true, these days we're back to most people listening to music in walled gardens like Spotify, Apple Music, etc.

brookst 3y ago
The lesson of walled gardens is that people will pay for curation. That’s endlessly irritating to some people, but that doesn’t change the truth of it.
- pwython 3y ago
  People will pay more for convenience. A music streaming service with access to millions of songs is the same price per month of what a single artist's CD was 20 years ago. Sure, you don't have a cool physical copy, but it's incredibly convenient to search for any song in seconds, play it instantly, and not worry about storage, etc.
  - wincy 3y ago
    And I don’t have to download it, copy it to my phone, make sure the mp3 metadata is correct for the song, and I can view the lyrics, and easily share the song with a friend, and make a playlist. I have a 50GB collection of MP3s on my desktop from my teens and 20s that have been collecting dust because I just use Spotify because it’s convenient.
Levitz 3y ago
Spotify was created in a market in which piracy was widespread. I'm not sure we can assume it would have ever been a thing otherwise.
chpatrick 3y ago
Spotify/Steam/Netflix only exist in the form they do because piracy is such a compelling alternative.

klabb3 3y ago

Napster was an opinionated (political even) piece of tech built for a specific purpose. AI is not like that. And even if ChatGPT currently gives you something nice, it’s not controlled by you and can be nerfed and extort you. You’d need to make an argument that AI will be good for people. It’s not self evident.

deleted 3y ago

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