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How ChatGPT serves ads

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Re: How ChatGPT serves ads

#301

Post by latexr »

danparsonson wrote: post #170
programjames wrote: post #68

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…

Your assessment lines up with the assessment of the people who know Sam personally.

https://archive.ph/20260414023627/https://www.newyorker.com/...

Re: How ChatGPT serves ads

#302

Post by threepts »

kakacik wrote: post #182
danparsonson wrote: post #170

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…

Exactly this. Words are cheap these days, people do say various things to further their goals. Days where leaders stood by their words as sort of moral testament of their character are gone, probably for good. As we see many people will do or say just about anything to get more money, prestige or power.

There were never any days where leaders stood by their words.

People have always used lies as tools to maintain their power whether it is the Roman Empire or 21st century AI companies. It is just human nature.

Re: How ChatGPT serves ads

#303

Post by fluoridation »

tejohnso wrote: post #277
SiempreViernes wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

There's nothing clever about being asked "are you going to do X?" and replying "I would only do X under extreme circumstances" when you know it's not true. It's just lying. You know if you tell the truth it will sway the other person's opinion of you right now, whereas if you tell a lie it will only eventually sway that person's opinion, if at all. Telling such a lie requires the exact same reasoning as denying responsibility for something you know you did. Both cases just require the motivation to delay an undesirable outcome.

Re: How ChatGPT serves ads

#304

Post by xnx »

torben-friis wrote: post #62

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.

> We haven't yet seen the problem of adversarial content in play, I think.

You're describing public relations, the much scummier cousin of advertising. Advertising is upfront about what it is and what it wants. Public relations is information warfare, it poisons facts at the source.

Re: How ChatGPT serves ads

#305

Post by threepts »

tovej wrote: post #260
plemer wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Altman is an idealist? I read this as: I know ads are likely if not inevitable but I can’t say that while I’m trying to gain users and inspire trust but I’ll start to float even in this non-denial the justification for the thing I’m ultimately going to do.

The opposite of an idealist is a materialist. The opposite of an ideologue is a pragmatist. In this sense I think Altman is an idealist, he concerns himself primarily with ideas, not so much with material reality.

I think these binary labels are too simple to describe him.

Re: How ChatGPT serves ads

#306

Post by xnx »

danparsonson wrote: post #170
programjames wrote: post #68

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…

Sam Altman is trying to out-huckster Elon Musk.

Remember when Sam said he needed $7 trillion? https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/sam-altman-seeks-trillions-of-do...

Re: How ChatGPT serves ads

#307

Post by latexr »

zarzavat wrote: post #181
nine_k wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The revenue from highly targeted ads, using even better profiles than Google Search or even Facebook could build, may be non-negligible. Commercial ads could be a smaller revenue source than political ads.

Political ads would destroy the value proposition. That would be an incredibly short-sighted move. Chats with LLMs are often intensely personal, you don't want to create the perception that politicians have any level of access to it.

> That would be an incredibly short-sighted move.

Companies at this level do those kinds of moves all the time.

> (…) you don't want to create the perception that (…)

Right. But that doesn’t mean they don’t want to do it, it just means they wouldn’t want you to realise they’re doing it.

Re: How ChatGPT serves ads

#308

Post by Foobar8568 »

destring wrote: post #278
torben-friis wrote: post #62

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.

My client paid 5 digit consulting fee for that shit.
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