Much of the ‘don’t use AI’ discourse doesn’t fully account for the fact that the web has, at this point, largely been ruined by AI slop and, before it, SEO spam.

For example, I’m building a shed with concrete block foundations on gravel pads. Some of the blocks are hollow. Should I fill them with concrete?

Any search for this just produces reams and reams of slop and spam, with advice ranging from ‘absolutely yes and you will die if you don’t because they will not be strong enough and fall apart’ to ‘no that’s a terrible idea they’ll fall apart in winter if you don’t leave them hollow’. Or both in the same ‘article’.

I don’t think the web used to be like this.

Claude gives a nuanced answer that *sounds* true (it’ll make them a bit stronger, but they don’t need to be stronger).

Basically any search for technical advice is similar. The only sources left that give advice from humans are YouTube (and similarly but less good, TikTok etc), the few still-standing web forums, and Reddit. Or books.