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   Christopher Mims (mimsical@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 17-Feb-2024 22:24:31 JST Christopher Mims

   It’s the End of the Web as We Know It

   And I feel... fine?

   AI is eating the web from the bottom up, with AI-generated spam, and from the top down, through the replacement of search with AI and AI-powered "answer engines"

   But look, the web has been enshittifying for a long time. Maybe this yields the kind of disruption we need?

   this week's column (gift link)

   1/🧵

   https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/its-the-end-of-the-web-as-we-know-it-2ab686a2?st=ba0hp8fxnytl78x&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

   • Warner Crocker repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     Christopher Mims (mimsical@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 17-Feb-2024 22:28:10 JST Christopher Mims

     in reply to

     BUT it's also clear that since AIs can't function without human inputs, much depends on pending court cases and future legislation. If AI companies are forced to license human-generated content, that could be good for a lot of publishers -- maybe even better than the old ad-supported model.

     ALSO the rise of AI spam means authentic and verified content will be higher value in the future.

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     Christopher Mims (mimsical@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 17-Feb-2024 22:28:11 JST Christopher Mims

     in reply to

     I don't mean to be glib about what LLM-powered chatbots and AI-powered answer engines could do to the internet.

     Research by Ethan Mollick and others shows that when people ask an AI for answers, they *do not click on links* those answers are referenced from.

     This is extremely bad for a lot of publishers.

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     Warner Crocker repeated this.