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Turnstile is an anti-bot measure. I’m saying users will flock to using bots because it’s easier. Which means sites that require human-at-keyboard will lose busi

Turnstile is an anti-bot measure. I’m saying users will flock to using bots because it’s easier. Which means sites that require human-at-keyboard will lose business over time by restricting the “easier” route. Exactly how e-commerce killed off so many holdouts that insisted on in-store/catalog/phone purchases when the internet was growing.

awesomeMilou 2y ago
I still don't get your point. When buying a product with a lot of competition, how is Operator different than a price comparison or review site? I can see it driving purchasing decisions, but I can't see it killing off the actual shop sites? Because the shop is getting a _comission_ on the sale. I'm getting an ever growing vibe off HN that for a website where a ton of people work on tech, or even in e-commerce serving content to people, they seem to have an awful understanding of consumer behavior.
- hipadev23 2y ago
  You're moving the goalposts now. You brought up an anti-bot system. I explained to you that sites which implement an anti-bot system will negatively impact their sales BECAUSE TRANSACTIONS WILL MORE AND MORE COME IN VIA BOTS. If your site doesn't support/allow agentic bots, it will be similar to not accepting Visa or Mastercard. Yes, cash-only business is a thing. But it's suicide to make that your only payment option for most retail businesses.
  - awesomeMilou 2y ago
    > will negatively impact their sales BECAUSE TRANSACTIONS WILL MORE AND MORE COME IN VIA BOTS. If you assume that every good or service can be infinitely commoditized, then yes, perhaps this will hurt businesses that use this kind of technology. Realistically though this just isn't the case and there are a lot of products, commodities and services that are unique in their own right and dont't have that kind of competition. So your Visa and Mastercard example is completely moot. For example, you wouldn't really tell this agent to get you "the best rated shooter game on steam" because that's just not how purchasing decisions in gaming are made. And on that point, from reading their announcement this sounds more like what critics of AI have been talking about, are you seriously going to automate something that gives you _pleasure_? Like selecting a game that you want to play? Wtf? Because in the scenario youre describing, thats exactly whats happening.
    - hipadev23 2y ago
      > because that's just not how purchasing decisions in gaming are made. Illusion of choice. Think about how Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, iOS Appstore, Google Play Store, and even your example -- Steam -- provide recommendation to users. The overwhelming majority of people are already letting an algorithm make decisions for them. Acting like this is where people will suddenly draw the line is amusing. "Play a new action movie that I'll enjoy" -- "Taken 4 now playing..."

awesomeMilou 2y ago

I still don't get your point. When buying a product with a lot of competition, how is Operator different than a price comparison or review site? I can see it driving purchasing decisions, but I can't see it killing off the actual shop sites? Because the shop is getting a _comission_ on the sale. I'm getting an ever growing vibe off HN that for a website where a ton of people work on tech, or even in e-commerce serving content to people, they seem to have an awful understanding of consumer behavior.

hipadev23 2y ago
You're moving the goalposts now. You brought up an anti-bot system. I explained to you that sites which implement an anti-bot system will negatively impact their sales BECAUSE TRANSACTIONS WILL MORE AND MORE COME IN VIA BOTS. If your site doesn't support/allow agentic bots, it will be similar to not accepting Visa or Mastercard. Yes, cash-only business is a thing. But it's suicide to make that your only payment option for most retail businesses.
- awesomeMilou 2y ago
  > will negatively impact their sales BECAUSE TRANSACTIONS WILL MORE AND MORE COME IN VIA BOTS. If you assume that every good or service can be infinitely commoditized, then yes, perhaps this will hurt businesses that use this kind of technology. Realistically though this just isn't the case and there are a lot of products, commodities and services that are unique in their own right and dont't have that kind of competition. So your Visa and Mastercard example is completely moot. For example, you wouldn't really tell this agent to get you "the best rated shooter game on steam" because that's just not how purchasing decisions in gaming are made. And on that point, from reading their announcement this sounds more like what critics of AI have been talking about, are you seriously going to automate something that gives you _pleasure_? Like selecting a game that you want to play? Wtf? Because in the scenario youre describing, thats exactly whats happening.
  - hipadev23 2y ago
    > because that's just not how purchasing decisions in gaming are made. Illusion of choice. Think about how Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, iOS Appstore, Google Play Store, and even your example -- Steam -- provide recommendation to users. The overwhelming majority of people are already letting an algorithm make decisions for them. Acting like this is where people will suddenly draw the line is amusing. "Play a new action movie that I'll enjoy" -- "Taken 4 now playing..."