Will A.I. Break the Internet? Or Save It?
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 4 апр 2024
- The internet is in decay. Do a Google search, and there are so many websites now filled with slapdash content contorted just to rank highly in the algorithm. Facebook, RUclips, X and TikTok all used to feel more fun and surprising. And all these once-great media companies have been folding or shedding staff members, unable to find a business model that works.
And into this weakened internet came the flood of A.I.-generated junk. There’s been a surge of spammy news sites filled with A.I.-generated articles. TikTok videos of A.I.-generated voices reading text pulled from Reddit can be churned out in seconds. And self-published A.I.-authored books are polluting Amazon listings.
According to my guest today, Nilay Patel, this isn’t just a blip, as the big platforms figure out how to manage this. He believes that A.I. content will break the internet as we know it.
“When you increase the supply of stuff onto those platforms to infinity, that system breaks down completely,” Patel told me “Recommendation algorithms break down completely. Our ability to discern what is real and what is false breaks down completely. And I think, importantly, the business models of the internet break down completely.”
Patel is one of the sharpest observers of the internet, and the ways technology has shaped and reshaped it. He’s a co-founder and the editor in chief of The Verge, and the host of the “Decoder (www.theverge.com/decoder-podc...) ” podcast. In this conversation, we talk about why platforms seem so unprepared for the storm of A.I. content; whether an internet filled with cursory A.I. content is better or worse than an internet filled with good A.I. content; and if A.I. might be a kind of cleansing fire for the internet that enables something new and better to emerge.
Mentioned:
Help us win a Webby Award (vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVo...)
“Scenes from a dying web (www.platformer.news/arc-searc...) ” by Casey Newton
“The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (web.mit.edu/allanmc/www/benja...) ” by Walter Benjamin
“257 CES gadgets in 3 minutes - CES 2015 ( • 257 CES gadgets in 3 m... ) ” by The Verge
Book Recommendations:
The Conquest of Cool (press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/...) by Thomas Frank
Liar in a Crowded Theater (www.press.jhu.edu/books/title...) by Jeff Kosseff
Substance (www.harperacademic.com/book/9...) by Peter Hook
Everything I Need I Get From You (us.macmillan.com/books/978037...) by Kaitlyn Tiffany
Extremely Hardcore (www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo...) by Zoe Schiffer
Beyond Measure (wwnorton.com/books/9781324035855) by James Vincent
Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.
You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast (www.nytimes.com/column/ezra-k...) . Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-... (www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-...) .
This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Claire Gordon. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris, with Kate Sinclair and Mary Marge Locker. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing from Isaac Jones and Efim Shapiro. Our senior editor is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Annie Galvin, Rollin Hu and Kristin Lin. Original music by Isaac Jones. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The executive producer of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. Special thanks to Sonia Herrero.
I was NOT ready for Nilay dropping the heavy reality bomb at 52 mins
Four things I hate about the modern internet:
1. That it was said that you could find anything you want to buy online. No. Things have to exist in the first place. My current things I want that don’t seem to exist = Travel pack of hot rollers that have the small rollers and a pair of black and a second color, peep toe, t-strap pumps with a reasonable heel.
2. How acrimonious most of the content is on sites like RUclips. I search for Star Wars fan fiction and get a bunch of results about culture war issues.
3. DIY tutorials laden with backstories and ads. Just give me the steps to do or make the things. I don’t care about what your kid did.
4. Inspo-memes and quote images. They enrage me. They make me not want to use Facebook or create an account on the other social platforms. I’m only on Facebook to find out about events I can attend and actual updates by people I physically know. Stop the deluge of memes that are not hilarious.
Come on, Ezraheads: show this podcast some love by voting for it on the Webbies. I did it today, and the show is in third place with about half the votes of the “Wiser Than Me” podcast. So, Ezra Klein needs every vote to move up the ranks before voting ends. We know this is an outstanding podcast with incredible guests and a top-tier host, so let’s help the show get the recognition it deserves. By the way, I have no connection with the New York Times, Ezra Klein, or the podcast.
Done. Listen to Ezra since 2015 or something. Ezra. Hands down best interviewer. Most persuasive left leaning pundit. The rigor of his questions are in a league of their own. The Lil Wayne of the Left.
Nah its soy trash
What is the show nominated for? That website is almost impossible to use.
Interview/Talk Show, Shows (Podcasts)
Absolutely fantastic interview. Nilay showed a sign of him that I have seen poke out in his other shows but Ezra’s environment unleashed his deep thinking.
A Bob Dylan fan would see Taylor's work as empty just as your guest saw the Midjourney image as empty. I think it is about perspective mixed with individualized bias, how we see ourselves and how we want to be seen. I marvel at AI imagery as I consider the universe of cloudy possibilities that got it to make what it made
I think there will be white hat and black hat AI's battling it out.
I agree, for now. I do also wonder about a future when AI is truly above human-level and has to dumb down it's novel and unimaginable ideas about life and the universe so we can begin to comprehend it. Now that is CONTENT!
I don't care if it's a person or not as long as it can solve a problem. And yes, It could break the internet, if the IOT comes to fruition with AI, then our products will interact with us, will serve our needs, will keep inventory, calculate budgets, wake up and maybe drive us safely to wherever we go. Then, what will we need traditional internet for? I'd only need a monitor for entertainment and maybe security.
Another great discussion.
God I feel depressed and cynical about AI after this episode. Depressed because I’m heavily invested in AI, and cynical because I’m experiencing all of the same AI garbage these gentlemen are highlighting.
18:37 AI isn't "great at new ideas"? If a "new idea" is a newly-synthesized mashup of old ideas (which I believe it absolutely is) then AIs in the form of LLMs are absolutely mind blowing at "new ideas." Through their completely superhuman classification capabilities, AI can and do make incredible "new ideas" that humans hadn't, and as humans get better at using it, the better (but also more dangerous) the new ideas will come
1) Anyone in media should mention in AI IP discussions that they have a stake in how AI handles media IP; the conflict of interest doesn’t negate the value of the argument, but it should be acknowledged. (I personally benefit from loose IP regulations.) 2) Ezra quoted the economist David Autor in this episode. That quote is Autor’s IP. Should he get a slice of any revenues from this podcast?
One thing AI won't be able to do is replace a live performance. I mean, even if you made life-like robot to sing the songs and play the instruments, it would still be robots, and the audience would know it, and they definitely wouldn't be having a beer with you later. Now let's look at the good ol' days (pre-phonograph, pre-player piano) musicians were individuals who wandered around and performed live shows. Sometimes you got a good job (the King's court), sometimes you worked for food, a room at the inn, and few shillings. But it wasn't like there were no musicians because there were no recording studios and records/CDs/etc.
I'd worry more about computer generated visual art (paintings, drawings, etc) and the written word. Take for instance, me. Leveraging Gemini, I'm generating some of the best resumes I've ever' done, in half the time. But is AI going to be able to build a unique bronze statue, say? or more importantly, will the person building the statues make more money doing it themselves, because face it, buying a full shop of robotic bronzeworking tools would be insanely expensive. It's likely far cheaper to have a human it, and will be for at least a decent amount of time.
52:19 the old saying always rang true for me "nothing good comes easy", putting in the work to achieve something is essential to the reward it gives.
1:18:15 You should be watching your own kid to make sure she is safe.
Thanks for the House Fresh recommendation
We have all been forced aboard a barely tested ai rocketship, whose mechanics can't explain how the components actually arrive at it's incredible performance, equipped with gauges that are mostly right, but often lie...can teach itself things we aren't fully aware of yet...contains a gas pedal that is capable of speeds that are so fast that it can destroy many aspects of humanity and doesn't have a limiter on it...whose design specs are available for criminals to craft equivalent rocket ships without any safety features, and exponentially flying faster and faster to an unknown destination hoping that nothing will break and that all will be just fine? Got it.
This episode leaves me convinced I need to read more Iain McGilchrist, spend more time smiling and talking with friends and strangers, and go outside as often as possible.
Interacting with other humans in person and in real time is excellent.
Irony is the true threshold between humanity and AI. Can you detect it? o_O Or have you already? O_o
Glorified shoplifters.
The word "learning" used for AI training data is clearly Orwellian in usage.
@Ezra, you can choose what you want to see on RUclips, all you need is an RSS reader and get the RSS feed of each of channel you want to follow.
There’s a “subscriptions” feed on RUclips. Doesn’t it do what you’re describing?
95% of stuff is meh already, true artists like TS are a rare gem, that is why she shines so bright. Our daily life is filled to the brim with meh, AI needs to be better, but it doesn't because our lives are already uninspiring. That's the scary part because the bar is set so low.
TS 😂
Humans empowered with decentralized systems and machine learning will provide newfound reasons to live, new industries to work/generate income and connect in reality will change the world. Have. No. Doubt.