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PhysicsForums and the Dead Internet Theory

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Re: PhysicsForums and the Dead Internet Theory

#161

Post by kjs3 »

robswc wrote: post #31
COAGULOPATH wrote: post #27

Something I'm increasingly noticing about LLM-generated content is that...nobody wants it. (I mean "nobody" in the sense of "nobody likes Nickelback". ie, not literally nobody.) If I want to talk to an AI, I can talk to an AI. If I'm reading a blog or a discussion forum, it's because I want to see writing by humans . I don't want to read a wall of copy+pasted LLM slop posted under a human's name. I now spend dismayin…

100%. So far (thankfully) I've noticed this stuff get voted down on social media but it is blowing my mind people think pasting in a ChatGPT response is productive. I've seen people on reddit say stuff like "I don't know but here's what ChatGPT said." Or worse, presenting ChatGPT copy-paste as their own. Its funny because you can tell, the text reads like an HR person wrote it.

I think some of that is the gamification of social media. "I have 1200 posts and you only have 500" kind of stuff. It's much easier to win the volume game when you aren't actually writing them. This is just a more advanced version of people who just post "I agree" or "I don't know anything about this, but...[post something just to post something]".

Re: PhysicsForums and the Dead Internet Theory

#162

Post by econ »

BlueTemplar wrote: post #156
econ wrote: post #105

I like the assumption that it was a real account originally. It all seems so unthinkable but when running a forum or a blog with an active comment section.. what would you do/think if your users show up, browse around and not say anything for a week? You start out by making topics in your own name, write helpful replies.. until you look like an idiot talking to yourself. Forums with good traffic and lots of spammy ad…

I think I would rather post alone than my current experience (on 2 forums already) of other posters being overwhelmingly spam bots.

A blog is more suitable for that. You could mirror the posts on a forum and look sophisticated.

Re: PhysicsForums and the Dead Internet Theory

#163

Post by RiverCrochet »

8474_s wrote: post #148
RiverCrochet wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, the end of open, public UGC content anyway. I have heard of Discord servers where admins won't assign you roles giving you access to all channels unless you've personally met them, someone in the group can vouch for you, or you have a video chat with them and "verify." This is the future. We need something like Discord that also has a webpage-like mechanism built into it (a space for a whole collection of docum…

This strange reliance on Discord as some sort of "escape from web3.0" is silly to anyone who knows what Discord is(modern AOL) and how centralized it is. Its just the same corporate walled garden with more echochambery isolation.

Is AI part of "web 3.0"? I thought web 3.0 was decentralized/blockchain stuff.

I mention Discord because a lot of people use it for stuff that would formerly be forums. Telegram is also the the same. They're doing this despite it being centralized. What's the decentralized equivalent of Discord or Telegram? Does it support phone notifications?

Re: PhysicsForums and the Dead Internet Theory

#164

Post by ploxiln »

emmelaich wrote: post #74
Evidlo wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The last section mentions that the PhysicsForums admins are experimenting with LLM-generated responses, so I think the site owners are responsible. > We reached out to Greg Bernhardt asking for comment on LLM usage in PhysicsForums, and he replied: > "We have many AI tests in the works to add value to the community. I sent out a 2024 feedback form to members a few weeks ago and many members don’t want AI features. We…

Looks like Greg now does SEO for Shopify. That fits I guess. https://gregbernhardt.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbernhardt https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/author/greg-bernhardt... https://x.com/GregBernhardt4/status/1875287174205374533 > "The dead internet theory is coming to fruition. This is a large reason I'm starting to cut back on social media and take back my time."

Wow, so ironic.

Re: PhysicsForums and the Dead Internet Theory

#165

Post by kjs3 »

BobbyTables2 wrote: post #157
kjs3 wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a really interesting conundrum. And I'm a golfer, so... Of the top of my head I wonder if there's a way to have AI generate a summary from existing (on-line) information about a course with a very explicit "this is what AI says about this course" or some similar disclosure until you get 'real' local insight. No one could then say 'it's just AI slop', but you're still providing value as there's something about…

But AI will just summarize v other humans’ work here. It has no understanding of golf…

Yeah, that's pretty much what everyone here is talking about.
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