Andreas GrünwaldMay 12, 2023
Paris Marx

Google’s vision for the future of search shows how generative AI is all about increasing corporate power.

Instead of sending you to different websites, Google has scraped the open web to generate plagiarized answers to keep you looking at ads on Google. We need to stop being distracted by AI hype and fantasies about intelligent machines, so we can push back on the real threats before it’s too late.

https://www.disconnect.blog/p/google-wants-to-take-over-the-web

#google #tech #search #ai #chatbot #googleio

Google wants to take over the web

Its new plan for search shows how AI hype hides the real threat of increased corporate power

Disconnect
May 11, 2023 at 7:17pmWeb
Show threadSaftyKumaMay 11, 2023

@parismarx

We may be reaching the point where independent operators start blackholing Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and the rest of the LLM pushers just to protect their own IPs and content.

I legitimately forsee the Internet fragmenting into a "corponet" run by the likes of Google, Amazon, and MS and "free Internet" run by independent operators.

Sounds like something out of a cyberpunk dystopia novel, but it seems like big tech is hell bent on creating a cyberpunk dystopia.

Show threadBigbeeMay 11, 2023
@parismarx If people demand a one-stop, best answer solution, Google really has no choice. I agree that search-driven site traffic across the web is certainly in jeopardy as a result.
Show threadMarkSMay 11, 2023

@parismarx
I think this is a hugely cynical take on what most people would consider an amazing advance in user interfaces. People want the "question answering machine". Right now, large language models are the closest we get to that.

This is not to excuse the training process, which has troubling implications for content ownership. And the model of surfing the web for the information will totally change.

But I think it's twisted to fault Google for building the search interface that people want. If they don't, someone else will, and people will use that website instead.

Show threadStuartMay 11, 2023
@parismarx definitely some useful food for thought. What do you think needs to happen? All the corporates want to own the internet. Can they really be stopped?
Show threadvolkrisMay 11, 2023

@parismarx

Echoing a couple of other people here, I can’t imagine a different way to get end users the experience they probably want and value.

So to build up, what are the alternative ways of doing this, if not big-data-centralized? Is there a way to get around the efficiencies of having it all in one place for processing?

@bigbee @markstahl

Show threadChris (He/Him)May 12, 2023
@parismarx I think that's become the MO for sites since they started prioritizing time spent on the site instead of page visits. Isn't this also exactly why news sites are always at war with fb and Twitter? Because their articles can be read on those sites, they don't get ad money for page visits because people aren't being redirected to them anymore.
Show threadChris of All TradesMay 12, 2023
@parismarx Great read, thanks! What is the best way forward from here?
Show threadErik JonkerMay 12, 2023
@parismarx But on a practical side people like generative ai more then the current search, it can give better answers (not always) and offer a more friendly and human-like interface. It will be used. So pushback on the functionality itself is a futile excercise , we should focus on responsible design, transparency etc
Show threadMetafrastisMay 12, 2023
@parismarx From a practical viewpoint, I don’t want to visit a dozen websites myself to research information. If an AI bot gives me a good answer from a thousand sources instead, I’m all for it. Elicit is already saving me hours of research today and I just discovered ResearchRabbit. These wouldn’t exist without GPT and GPT wouldn’t exist without all the data on the net.
And I am still paying for three newspapers, there is still a profitable market for good journalism.
Show threadTake It EV Podcast 🎙️May 12, 2023
@parismarx @donmelton just don’t use google …
Show threadRenéMay 12, 2023
@parismarx I think AI is in this case just another tool for big monopolistic tech companies. AI itself is not the problem. As long as it is profitable and legal for a company to close of their ecosystem and have a monopol, this process will continue.
Show threadpenguinMay 12, 2023
@parismarx No one wants to try to use slow ad/tracker filled websites, or sift through spam. There's no going back from AI, we can only hope open source AI catches up (like Open Assistant).
Show threadMoriMay 12, 2023
@parismarx Interesting take, and I guess I agree, but it feels like you’re preaching to the pews in this forum and that it was long ago already too late to push back and stop this. 99.999% of internet uses don’t give a shit and just want their daily lolz served over easy.
Show threadMike StoneMay 12, 2023
@parismarx It presents a real conundrum. If you want people to read your stuff, you put it on the open web for consumption, but then Google scrapes it and it just becomes part of their bot, and no one is going to your site to read your stuff. There's a real possibility this could encourage a fragmented Internet, even pushing the "open" web behind authentications to keep bots away. Of course, since a large percentage of people use Google's browser, that probably won't work long term either.
Show threadVoronMay 12, 2023
@parismarx @tommyyum I’m fairly sure we are about 20 years too late to push back on corporate power in the U.S.
Show threadTom MaxwellMay 12, 2023
@voron @parismarx lol not at all
Show threadVoronMay 12, 2023
@tommyyum @parismarx I hope you are correct, I really do, and I will keep fighting, but my magic eight ball keeps disagreeing
Show threadTom MaxwellMay 12, 2023
@voron @parismarx There is no better soldier than the one who already knows he’s dead.