Live data from Hacker News

How ChatGPT serves ads

buchodi.com

271–280 of 383 posts

Re: How ChatGPT serves ads

#272

Less than two years ago, Sam Altman said > I kind of think of ads as a last resort for us for a business model. I would do it if it meant that was the only way to get everybody in the world access to great services, but if we can find something that doesn't do that, I'd prefer that. So, is this OpenAI announcing they're strapped for cash?

No, I suspect that "I kind of think of ads as a last resort" was doublespeak for "ads are coming eventually". I would tend to think of someone like him as a person who uses words to achieve a specific goal, rather than someone who speaks whatever is truly on their mind. Whether those words are lies or truth or somewhere in between is irrelevant; what matters to them is the outcome. It's likely a waste of time trying…

> No, I suspect that "I kind of think of ads as a last resort" was doublespeak for "ads are coming eventually".

I don't think so. Resorting to ads is an obvious step but one that profoundly degrades the credibility of the whole service. It's a pyrrhic monetization strategy, and one that's pulled when all other options failed. It's a kin to scraping the bottom of the barrel to extract the remaining bits of value left.

The reason why the statement was "I kind of think of ads as a last resort" is clearly because they were a last resort move. And here they are.

Re: How ChatGPT serves ads

#273
post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think doublespeak is more along the lines of calling ads a "product recommendation strategy". This was either a) a plain lie b) they're actually at their last resort.

> This was either a) a plain lie b) they're actually at their last resort. That's thinking like a normal honest human :-) My point is that it was likely not a statement about reality (true or false) at all, but rather a phrase designed to elicit some response in the listener, such as the idea: 'Sam Altman isn't the kind of CEO who would put ads in his products unless he really had to'. He's not describing how things…

> He's not describing how things are, but how he wants you to think about them.

That is what a lie is. The fact that some people think he exists in a different plane of existence from normal humans does not change the meaning of “lie”.

Re: How ChatGPT serves ads

#275

Less than two years ago, Sam Altman said > I kind of think of ads as a last resort for us for a business model. I would do it if it meant that was the only way to get everybody in the world access to great services, but if we can find something that doesn't do that, I'd prefer that. So, is this OpenAI announcing they're strapped for cash?

The uncomfortable part is that "ads as a last resort" sounds very different once the product becomes one of the main places people ask for advice

Re: How ChatGPT serves ads

#276

Less than two years ago, Sam Altman said > I kind of think of ads as a last resort for us for a business model. I would do it if it meant that was the only way to get everybody in the world access to great services, but if we can find something that doesn't do that, I'd prefer that. So, is this OpenAI announcing they're strapped for cash?

BREAKING : Man changes mind.

He did not. He was/is a liar.

Re: How ChatGPT serves ads

#277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This was either a) a plain lie b) they're actually at their last resort. That's thinking like a normal honest human :-) My point is that it was likely not a statement about reality (true or false) at all, but rather a phrase designed to elicit some response in the listener, such as the idea: 'Sam Altman isn't the kind of CEO who would put ads in his products unless he really had to'. He's not describing how things…

I mean, I get that you are trying to make a subtle point but this: > He's not describing how things are, but how he wants you to think about them. is just a fancy way to describe lies. I'm not even sure if it specifies some interesting subset of lies, I think it's just the plain definition.

Oh I think there's a big difference. One is clever, manipulative, meant to control or coerce, possibly to facilitate long term strategic goals. The other could be a simple immediate denial of fact to avoid blame. I think the personality and capabilities of the person in the former case is more concerning.

Re: How ChatGPT serves ads

#278

These are the less worrying kind of ads in our future. Seeing how google has been fighting SEO for ages, what's going to happen when companies figure out how to inject ads into the model? We haven't yet seen the problem of adversarial content in play, I think.

It is already happening. Generative Engine Optimization.

Re: How ChatGPT serves ads

#279
post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I suspect that "I kind of think of ads as a last resort" was doublespeak for "ads are coming eventually". I would tend to think of someone like him as a person who uses words to achieve a specific goal, rather than someone who speaks whatever is truly on their mind. Whether those words are lies or truth or somewhere in between is irrelevant; what matters to them is the outcome. It's likely a waste of time trying…

This is something I’ve long believed to be true and important to understand, yet rarely see anybody else argue, so it makes me happy to read. I think of it like the kissing noise we make to make a pet come. You could call it the truth or a lie depending on what the pet is expecting and whether you then do it, but both judgements miss what actually happened: it didn’t even occur to us to think about whether it’s “true…

There is a thin layer of high functioning sociopath at the top of all human social structures. Never trust anyone who wants to lead at that level. You have more in common with a colossal squid at the bottom of the deepest trench than you do with that kind of human.

Re: How ChatGPT serves ads

#280
post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I suspect that "I kind of think of ads as a last resort" was doublespeak for "ads are coming eventually". I would tend to think of someone like him as a person who uses words to achieve a specific goal, rather than someone who speaks whatever is truly on their mind. Whether those words are lies or truth or somewhere in between is irrelevant; what matters to them is the outcome. It's likely a waste of time trying…

This is something I’ve long believed to be true and important to understand, yet rarely see anybody else argue, so it makes me happy to read. I think of it like the kissing noise we make to make a pet come. You could call it the truth or a lie depending on what the pet is expecting and whether you then do it, but both judgements miss what actually happened: it didn’t even occur to us to think about whether it’s “true…

The kissing noise analogy is spot on! Made me smile
Post reply on HN