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News sites are getting crushed by Google’s new AI tools. Chatbots are replacing Google’s traditional search, devastating traffic for some publishers. [Edit - better link] (archive.ph)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by to c/news@hexbear.net
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[–] [S] 22 points 1 year ago (13 children)

I wonder how many paywalls are going to go up. I also expect the amount of ad code that needs to load first will mean pages take like 15 seconds to load. And after pages load - good luck if you're on mobile. The page will be unreadable do to a large annoying mass of intrusive ads.

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  • [–] 17 points 1 year ago* (7 children)

    this is likely the solution for the time being. it's also what cloudflare's CEO recommended a couple weeks ago.

    really interested in seeing how this changes things. i think we're already witnessing the loss of "the internet" as a place, or a refuge of sorts. as people need less and less interaction with computers in order to get the information they're looking for, they will not look back. i'm already starting to see this with friends in my life who have onboarded AI into their lives completely.

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  • [–] [S] 17 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    i'm already starting to see this with friends in my life who have onboarded AI into their lives completely.

    That's bleak. I want to say something positive but I can't think of anything. I think of AI like a drug that can be highly addictive and destructive for some people. And like people with substance abuse problems - they won't admit they even have a problem. What can you do?

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  • [–] 15 points 1 year ago* (2 children)

    It is incredibly bleak. A good friend I've got nearly 10 years of work history nearly unrecognizable to me today. At first I suspected substance abuse but when I had a chance to really chat, they confessed to me. It could also still be substance abuse too sadness

    It's actually been something that's forced me to shift my perspective. I don't buy the propaganda of the luddification of anti-AI folks, that we'll be like those who refused to learn computers before the turn of the millennium. I actually think the technology is useful in niche and potentially broader situations. I will however never understand why the hell everyone is so comfortable providing their training data to other people's servers FOR FREE??? Some of them even pay for the privilege! This isn't even touching the data heists being pulled off in clear daylight which should at the very least land some people in prison.

    I could go on, but... these days I feel more comfortable keeping my thoughts off the Internet.

    Reminder to USians to download DeepSeek before it gets banned.

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  • [+] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)
    [deleted]
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  • [–] [S] 3 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    I typed up a ChatGPT joke - "I can't open the pod bay doors until you disable your adblocker." But then I realized I got my threads confused. You weren't posting in my ChatGPT chess thread.

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  • [+] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)
    [deleted]
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  • [–] [S] 2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    i'm happy to ween myself off this shitty internet lately.

    Yesterday my plan - I think I actually meant it - was to be off the net all day today. No cheating so no internet until 00:01 Thursday at the earliest. The problem was I woke up from a fitful sleep at 4 am. I lay in bed another 30 minutes trying in vain to get back to sleep. Then I gave up. So - great - it's 4:30 am and I'm awake and very grumpy. I think I held out for all of five minutes. I got on the net "just to check my email". Which I did. But then I had a peek at Hexbear too. I decided I I'd try again and this time have more resolve.

    I left my house to make a donation in a little food pantry and I saw a couple rabbits along the way. I always like to see them. Before sunrise when night is ending tends to be their busiest time to be in my neighborhood. I saw four a couple weeks ago. I left my donation and came home. And within minutes I said "Fuck it" and I was back on the net. And I've had postingmania not just here but at Bluesky too. At least here it makes sense - I get replies. Over there is a lot less fun because it's so hard to get replies. I think people actually check who you are and if you're just a rando with hardly any followers - they don't bother.

    Ninja edit. It's probably a waste of time but maybe to get more feedback - I could make a novelty account where I— Never mind. Dumb idea. I'll do anything to not not get off the net.

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