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I predict a return to private communities on the Internet and bulletin boards where verified humans hang out, away from the rest of the garbage the Internet wil

I predict a return to private communities on the Internet and bulletin boards where verified humans hang out, away from the rest of the garbage the Internet will become filled with.

idiotsecant 3y ago
Unlikely. Most people care about network effect more than they care about authenticity. Small enclaves of hobbyists like HN will always exist but they aren't and won't be the mainstream.
- toldyouso2022 3y ago
  The small enclaves are gonna become a little less small, the plebs are gonna keep plebbing (now with AI) I am an optimist
  - andybak 3y ago
    How about small select enclaves of people using generative AI? Or are they plebs by your definition?
- bdw5204 3y ago
  I expect the large social media platforms to emphasize verification that accounts are controlled by real humans even if they are pseudonymous. X (formerly Twitter) is already heading in this direction. AI social media accounts and even accounts where they're unsure if the account is a genuine human or AI are likely to end up shadowbanned. I suspect newer platforms and small enclaves that want to be larger will be tempted to use AI. Reddit's founders infamously created fake accounts and put fake posts on their platform when it started to make it look active.[0] That was actually a pretty common technique to address the "chicken and egg" dilemma that every new forum has: Nobody wants to join a forum that has no posts and no active users but the forum won't get posts or active users unless somebody joins. AI can solve this problem much more efficiently than if the founders are writing the fake posts. [0]: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/06/reddit-founders-made-hundreds-of-fake-profiles-so-site-looked-popular/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/06/reddi...
  - krisoft 3y ago
    > I expect the large social media platforms to emphasize verification that accounts are controlled by real humans even if they are pseudonymous. Of course they are controlled by a real human. The question is if that human is posting or an AI controlled by the human?
- rchaud 3y ago
  Most people on social media lurk and don't post. They're more or less being chased off the platforms these days due to the bombardment of ads, influencer marketing and UI Tiktokification.
- tivert 3y ago
  > Unlikely. Most people care about network effect more than they care about authenticity. I think that's excessively cynical take. "People" might care about network effects more than a lot of other things technology people thing they should care about, but I don't think that will extend to socializing with networks of bots. A lot of tech people tend to focus too much on surface appearances and neglect social context. A connection with a bot is not equivalent to a connection with a real person, even when a tech person can't distinguish the posts.
Waterluvian 3y ago
Been doing this via Discord for years and it’s great. I’ve got two hobby servers with maybe 500 people each. A local hobby server of 30 people and a friends server of maybe 15 people. Verified? Meh. Not necessary. I can’t think of how that would improve my experience.
- andy_ppp 3y ago
  Well, if you suspect the top poster on your forum is a bot, you might change your mind...
  - Waterluvian 3y ago
    I think that’s more an anxious fear than a real problem. Especially if you seek meaningful interactions and relationship building. And if an AI is able to offer such a compelling long-term character development and online relationship and regularly offers insights and new ideas and empathy, we’re already into a deeply philosophical place about authenticity and if it really matters. You have no idea if I’m an AI right now. If I am, would this comment suddenly become invalid? The information and idea here is what matters, no? Do you need to know much about the corporeal flesh bag mashing the buttons? But does it even matter? Everyone online is a cat.
    - pixl97 3y ago
      > The information and idea here is what matters, no? Yuval Noah Harari goes into this in detail that this is actually a huge risk. Imagine an AI controlled by a single with a hidden motivation. But also imagine it is a really good AI that 99% of its communication is towards building a friendship long term relationships with particular users on hundreds or thousands of forums. You now have an intimate relationship and when political season comes around and they make a recommendation you trust what that 'person' says because they don't generally talk about politics. And so do thousands of other people.
      - deleted 3y ago
        [deleted]
pyinstallwoes 3y ago
DHT based vBulletin let's go!
ActionHank 3y ago
I am expecting stamps on things that say "human made", "designed by humans". Handed out by a nonprofit called something cheesy like "The SOUL Foundation".
- rootsudo 3y ago
  Soul foundation is a great idea. Also human factory and such. We already have shop small (business) thanks to AMEX and numerous others.
- pixl97 3y ago
  Heh, and a black market that stamps them on AI products for profit too?
- pawelmurias 3y ago
  Stuff being designed or made by meat puppets doesn't imply any quality.
  - blacksmith_tb 3y ago
    It may not guarantee quality, but to turn the argument around, everything good/brilliant/interesting made so far was made by humans (barring naturally-ocurring coolness).
ajross 3y ago
Isn't that just Facebook? Facebook is doing just fine.
- andy_ppp 3y ago
  Probably looks a bit more like Google+ ;-)
asylteltine 3y ago
One can only hope. I miss the old internet before a bunch of stupid children were on it

I predict a return to private communities on the Internet and bulletin boards where verified humans hang out, away from the rest of the garbage the Internet will become filled with.

idiotsecant 3y ago

Unlikely. Most people care about network effect more than they care about authenticity. Small enclaves of hobbyists like HN will always exist but they aren't and won't be the mainstream.

toldyouso2022 3y ago
The small enclaves are gonna become a little less small, the plebs are gonna keep plebbing (now with AI) I am an optimist
- andybak 3y ago
  How about small select enclaves of people using generative AI? Or are they plebs by your definition?
bdw5204 3y ago
I expect the large social media platforms to emphasize verification that accounts are controlled by real humans even if they are pseudonymous. X (formerly Twitter) is already heading in this direction. AI social media accounts and even accounts where they're unsure if the account is a genuine human or AI are likely to end up shadowbanned. I suspect newer platforms and small enclaves that want to be larger will be tempted to use AI. Reddit's founders infamously created fake accounts and put fake posts on their platform when it started to make it look active.[0] That was actually a pretty common technique to address the "chicken and egg" dilemma that every new forum has: Nobody wants to join a forum that has no posts and no active users but the forum won't get posts or active users unless somebody joins. AI can solve this problem much more efficiently than if the founders are writing the fake posts. [0]: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/06/reddit-founders-made-hundreds-of-fake-profiles-so-site-looked-popular/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/06/reddi...
- krisoft 3y ago
  > I expect the large social media platforms to emphasize verification that accounts are controlled by real humans even if they are pseudonymous. Of course they are controlled by a real human. The question is if that human is posting or an AI controlled by the human?
rchaud 3y ago
Most people on social media lurk and don't post. They're more or less being chased off the platforms these days due to the bombardment of ads, influencer marketing and UI Tiktokification.
tivert 3y ago
> Unlikely. Most people care about network effect more than they care about authenticity. I think that's excessively cynical take. "People" might care about network effects more than a lot of other things technology people thing they should care about, but I don't think that will extend to socializing with networks of bots. A lot of tech people tend to focus too much on surface appearances and neglect social context. A connection with a bot is not equivalent to a connection with a real person, even when a tech person can't distinguish the posts.

Waterluvian 3y ago

Been doing this via Discord for years and it’s great. I’ve got two hobby servers with maybe 500 people each. A local hobby server of 30 people and a friends server of maybe 15 people. Verified? Meh. Not necessary. I can’t think of how that would improve my experience.

andy_ppp 3y ago
Well, if you suspect the top poster on your forum is a bot, you might change your mind...
- Waterluvian 3y ago
  I think that’s more an anxious fear than a real problem. Especially if you seek meaningful interactions and relationship building. And if an AI is able to offer such a compelling long-term character development and online relationship and regularly offers insights and new ideas and empathy, we’re already into a deeply philosophical place about authenticity and if it really matters. You have no idea if I’m an AI right now. If I am, would this comment suddenly become invalid? The information and idea here is what matters, no? Do you need to know much about the corporeal flesh bag mashing the buttons? But does it even matter? Everyone online is a cat.
  - pixl97 3y ago
    > The information and idea here is what matters, no? Yuval Noah Harari goes into this in detail that this is actually a huge risk. Imagine an AI controlled by a single with a hidden motivation. But also imagine it is a really good AI that 99% of its communication is towards building a friendship long term relationships with particular users on hundreds or thousands of forums. You now have an intimate relationship and when political season comes around and they make a recommendation you trust what that 'person' says because they don't generally talk about politics. And so do thousands of other people.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]

pyinstallwoes 3y ago

DHT based vBulletin let's go!

ActionHank 3y ago

I am expecting stamps on things that say "human made", "designed by humans". Handed out by a nonprofit called something cheesy like "The SOUL Foundation".

rootsudo 3y ago
Soul foundation is a great idea. Also human factory and such. We already have shop small (business) thanks to AMEX and numerous others.
pixl97 3y ago
Heh, and a black market that stamps them on AI products for profit too?
pawelmurias 3y ago
Stuff being designed or made by meat puppets doesn't imply any quality.
- blacksmith_tb 3y ago
  It may not guarantee quality, but to turn the argument around, everything good/brilliant/interesting made so far was made by humans (barring naturally-ocurring coolness).

ajross 3y ago

Isn't that just Facebook? Facebook is doing just fine.

andy_ppp 3y ago
Probably looks a bit more like Google+ ;-)

asylteltine 3y ago

One can only hope. I miss the old internet before a bunch of stupid children were on it