nicbou

I had something nice going with allaboutberlin.com. It helped people and covered my bills. I spent most of my tine building helpful things.

Now I'm down three quarters of my traffic and my inbox is filled with LLM-generated outreach. I'm competing with AI trained on my work, and with slop websites generated with that AI.

The original research is still necessary, but it has to happen with a dwindling audience and a shrinking revenue. I have to worry a lot more about paying rent, so I have less time to contribute to society.

Worst of all, LLM noise has filled every crevice of my life. It's billboards, blogs, music, videos, social media. It has filled the world with spam and nobody is happy, but everyone's Christmas bonus depends on adding oil onto that fire.

I mourn the loss of our internet, our culture, my career and my business all at once. And for what? We're all worse off!

I am still in touch with some college buddies. How hard you work seems disconnected from what results you get. Being good at networking, selling yourself and applying effort judiciously helps more.

That's why I buy Apple products now. This iPad still feels as good to use as when I bought it.

I help people settle in Berlin. The guides on my website used to be a bible for immigrants.

So far LLMs have killed 75% of my traffic, but my income is still acceptable, so I'll keep going. If it gets worse, I don't know.

The information I share is as hard as ever to acquire. I still need to poll experts and my audience, but my audience is shrinking and I can't incentivize experts with as much business as I used to. All the spoils go to parasitic AI companies and slop sites.

Still, the work matters, and the job is fun. I'll keep doing it for as long as I can. In any case, my backup profession (coding) is also threatened by AI.

One thing I'm trying is building a community for immigrants. You still need humans, and I want to build their watering hole.

That sounds a bit like "enrichment" for pets. We all go a little nutso without it.

My apartment has a great view on nature. I see the sunrises and the sunsets, swallows racing across the evening sky, a chestnut's whole cycle, and all that lives in my balcony garden.

I cannot overstate how much it does for my happiness. I love the morning routine of caring for my garden. I love to watch things grow and seasons change.

I think our caveman brains need this sort of thing.

I am already feeling it.

I went from maybe 2-3 outreach enails a month to one a day. They're all LLM-generated.

I can imagine that the effect would be far more pronounced if I offered something more valuable than a mention on my website.

Mine is a notebook, a sketch book and a reading device. I read books and queued Instapaper articles, take meeting notes, and make digital art. I love that device to bits.

I have the gen 6 mini for reading and notes. It'sthe least needy, most capable of my devices. I bring it everywhere.

I'm excited for the OLED display because it would make bedtime reading easier on the eyes. I'm also happy about the weight reduction.

Still, it's €749 vs €549 in 2021. I will use mine until it stops fulfilling its role, which might take a few more years.

Measuring the angle of the north star in the sky was a fun trig refresher

I reread it earlier this year. It's a very fun book.

I help immigrants find their way with helpful guides. Now AI is killing traffic to my website, so the writing is on the wall.

I was a software engineer but AI made the job miserable according to friends.

I would like to work for Digital Service or CityLab Berlin. The job is cool, the people are cool and I think I'd be helpful there.

It would be significantly worse than my current occupation, but it would still be fun.

Plan C is to coast for a few years where life is cheap, and keep tackling whatever small problems I find interesting.

It's not allowed in the EU. Not without consent.