This is fascinating to follow while simultaneously really horrifying! I am so curious about the conversations we'll have about this a few years from now and what would have happened between now and then. We'll also have a whole new host of concerns... I'm already doubtful of most things I find in a google search as I know how much I can create with AI at just my regular user level.
I agree! 2025 will be a turning point I think. The way we think of pre-Facebook internet. I will have even less trust on what I find online lol. Now I don’t trust I’m talking to a person for the first time!
Already we have ai powered browsers like Atlas and Comet summarising and guiding us to content.
While I would like to see more governance and regulation of AI content - AI is moving faster than laws can keep up. Like you mentioned our best defense is mindset.
100%. You give up some control. OpenAI shows their demo of adding sunblock to your shopping cart when you ask it. Which does it choose? Who owns the company that contracts with OpenAI? I wonder if their brand gets clicked by the agent over the one who isn’t associated.
That’s a fantastic point. Ai browsers will be summarizing and guiding. Will we lose nuance? What about a subject OpenAI doesn’t like, will Atlas down play it? Leave it out entirely?
Social Media is a failed experiment. It was created by Peter Thiel to control elections and it runs as planned. Palantir never misses. Return to Reddit and IRC, Matrix. Bluesky and more so Mastodon have the right idea. Build servers and moderate them.
Bluesky and Mastodon takes time to build connections, as it should. The notion of accelerated online friendships is a lie of the enshittification process that Doctorow is outlining.
Great points. The problem is that average humans are far too lazy and uninterested in working for accuracy. They would rather assume if they can read it that it is true.
“Someone else surely has fact checked this before it was allowed to be shown to me.”
Absolutely. In fact the idea of fact checking is under fire. I watched a video on YouTube about a team trying to get to the bottom of several well accepted scientific facts, and they spent 6 months in a circular list of references. Mapped it out, everyone just referencing papers that referenced papers. It’s only getting worse from here when AI makes up half the references lol.
This is a powerful piece that triggers relevant questions and answers. For me AI is a ressource, a tool we have to use responsibly… and I think we should mostly focus on that instead of going at war against it. I mean think about, we’ve been using all kinds of tools and ressources to communicate, to express ourselves, to connect; from the simple note books to high-tech computers and apps… and even the ghost writing concept… Yes, real really matters but are we asking ourselves what is really real, or what really matters? Is it the people who creates and produce? Is it the ressources? Is it the outcome? And yeah, what about the consequences? The fact is, we are all mostly right even through our different points of view? We just need to learn to leave with it including the AI concept? AI is real and is part of this chaos we the people are constantly creating. And as chaos comes with opportunity, why not be smart about it instead of fearing it?
You bring up great points! And for sure, I’m in AI security, so I end up writing “against” it, even though I’m a huge fan of it and use it daily professionally. I look at a lot of my pieces and you’d think I hate it lol. To your point, I think of it like nuclear tech. I’m all for nuclear energy, and the general public is starting to shift back to that. Kyle Hill has some great points on the subject. But we can also misuse nuclear too easily. AI is just already in the hands of everyone hah. I do hope we learn to use it responsibly.
My prediction is sooner or later, the web will go back to its roots. Forums and small open communities which will guard themselves against malicious outside actors but discuss, create, and preserve valuable knowledge and insights for everybody to see. I like the idea very much.
I also like this idea. The early internet was more fun. Walled gardens of human users with genuine connection sounds better than browsing though 90% of X’s bot posts.
🌍 ☠️
This is fascinating to follow while simultaneously really horrifying! I am so curious about the conversations we'll have about this a few years from now and what would have happened between now and then. We'll also have a whole new host of concerns... I'm already doubtful of most things I find in a google search as I know how much I can create with AI at just my regular user level.
I agree! 2025 will be a turning point I think. The way we think of pre-Facebook internet. I will have even less trust on what I find online lol. Now I don’t trust I’m talking to a person for the first time!
Already we have ai powered browsers like Atlas and Comet summarising and guiding us to content.
While I would like to see more governance and regulation of AI content - AI is moving faster than laws can keep up. Like you mentioned our best defense is mindset.
100%. You give up some control. OpenAI shows their demo of adding sunblock to your shopping cart when you ask it. Which does it choose? Who owns the company that contracts with OpenAI? I wonder if their brand gets clicked by the agent over the one who isn’t associated.
I can see ad revenue and payment for improving a business search ranking becoming a thing for OpenAI and other vendors.
Yeah, I think it’s just a matter of time a this point.
That’s a fantastic point. Ai browsers will be summarizing and guiding. Will we lose nuance? What about a subject OpenAI doesn’t like, will Atlas down play it? Leave it out entirely?
Will be very interesting what comes out of this.
Control of people's searches and sources.
Would governments try to regulate this?
We are living in some interesting times.
Social Media is a failed experiment. It was created by Peter Thiel to control elections and it runs as planned. Palantir never misses. Return to Reddit and IRC, Matrix. Bluesky and more so Mastodon have the right idea. Build servers and moderate them.
I do have a very new Bluesky. I’ve tried Mastodon because I love the idea but maybe haven’t found the right community yet.
Bluesky and Mastodon takes time to build connections, as it should. The notion of accelerated online friendships is a lie of the enshittification process that Doctorow is outlining.
Maybe I’ll have to spend a bit more time building that community aspect up. Worth a shot!
Great points. The problem is that average humans are far too lazy and uninterested in working for accuracy. They would rather assume if they can read it that it is true.
“Someone else surely has fact checked this before it was allowed to be shown to me.”
Absolutely. In fact the idea of fact checking is under fire. I watched a video on YouTube about a team trying to get to the bottom of several well accepted scientific facts, and they spent 6 months in a circular list of references. Mapped it out, everyone just referencing papers that referenced papers. It’s only getting worse from here when AI makes up half the references lol.
With AI we will find a LOT of junk science that we thought was more or less decided. We are already seeing it medicine and physics.
Thankfully we will still find that the Earth is indeed round.
On a personal level, I’ve had so many old wives tales dispelled lol. I learning a lot of junk science is great.
This is a powerful piece that triggers relevant questions and answers. For me AI is a ressource, a tool we have to use responsibly… and I think we should mostly focus on that instead of going at war against it. I mean think about, we’ve been using all kinds of tools and ressources to communicate, to express ourselves, to connect; from the simple note books to high-tech computers and apps… and even the ghost writing concept… Yes, real really matters but are we asking ourselves what is really real, or what really matters? Is it the people who creates and produce? Is it the ressources? Is it the outcome? And yeah, what about the consequences? The fact is, we are all mostly right even through our different points of view? We just need to learn to leave with it including the AI concept? AI is real and is part of this chaos we the people are constantly creating. And as chaos comes with opportunity, why not be smart about it instead of fearing it?
We got this. Hope we do.
You bring up great points! And for sure, I’m in AI security, so I end up writing “against” it, even though I’m a huge fan of it and use it daily professionally. I look at a lot of my pieces and you’d think I hate it lol. To your point, I think of it like nuclear tech. I’m all for nuclear energy, and the general public is starting to shift back to that. Kyle Hill has some great points on the subject. But we can also misuse nuclear too easily. AI is just already in the hands of everyone hah. I do hope we learn to use it responsibly.
That's not a theory anymore. 🤣
Rip internet.
Tracing the sources to the same for the good 😊
+1
My prediction is sooner or later, the web will go back to its roots. Forums and small open communities which will guard themselves against malicious outside actors but discuss, create, and preserve valuable knowledge and insights for everybody to see. I like the idea very much.
I also like this idea. The early internet was more fun. Walled gardens of human users with genuine connection sounds better than browsing though 90% of X’s bot posts.