I see parallels here with industrialization and automation in manufacturing and food production. Today, it's self-evident to us as consumers when a product is cheap, low-quality, manufactured garbage from China. In many cases we can choose to spend more and buy a handmade or custom version of the product we want.
In the future we might knowingly consume AI-generated cheap text for some purposes and opt for "the real thing" in other cases. Just like I buy manufactured wood furniture from Target for the spare bedroom, but not for things I want to keep forever.
The interesting thing is that a boom in AI-generated content makes gatekeepers like traditional publishers more relevant after two decades of decline. The narrative of the internet has always been the democratization of content, information, and news. Now, we might find that a stamp of approval has specific value. A publisher can promise that some certain content for medicine or engineering was not generated by AI. Whether fraud also exists is a different question.
Another way I'm thinking about it is with GMO food. GMO food supporters point out that GMOs help us feed more people, but it still makes others uneasy. Maybe there's a similar story with AI content. It makes some content cheaper, but what are the side effects?
In the future we might knowingly consume AI-generated cheap text for some purposes and opt for "the real thing" in other cases. Just like I buy manufactured wood furniture from Target for the spare bedroom, but not for things I want to keep forever.
The interesting thing is that a boom in AI-generated content makes gatekeepers like traditional publishers more relevant after two decades of decline. The narrative of the internet has always been the democratization of content, information, and news. Now, we might find that a stamp of approval has specific value. A publisher can promise that some certain content for medicine or engineering was not generated by AI. Whether fraud also exists is a different question.
Another way I'm thinking about it is with GMO food. GMO food supporters point out that GMOs help us feed more people, but it still makes others uneasy. Maybe there's a similar story with AI content. It makes some content cheaper, but what are the side effects?