G/O Media Incorporating AI-Generated Content • Hacker News Board

Re: G/O Media Incorporating AI-Generated Content

#41

Post by the-printer » Thu, Jul 06, 2023, 5:49 PM UTC

The influx of AI-generated content on the Web is a given but I highly doubt it will have an adverse effect on any outlets that try to operate with a modicum of integrity and respect to their audiences with regard to the production of genuine, insightful material (authored by actual humans). I don't get the impression that G/O Media's assets have that in mind.

I am okay with the demise of the sort of outlets that they own from a quality perspective and the type of people I imagine frequent their assets in lieu of other outlets on average probably do not care. Most of what we read online that are "current events" or "news" are glorified press releases anyway, so what difference does it make how the information is generated? Feature stories and in-depth criticism is another matter, but I don't think that the sort of people in search for more substantial content are dependent on Gizmodo or Deadspin to get their fix today (I hope not, at least).

In short, I think decisions like this will be a good catalyst for adept, interested writers and publishers alike to forge better opportunities. The future of media has its promise in the dreadful decisions that corporations are making under the influence of late-stage capitalism. Isn't it a joy?

Re: G/O Media Incorporating AI-Generated Content

#42

Post by fnordpiglet » Thu, Jul 06, 2023, 7:11 PM UTC

13years wrote: post #2

The internet is going to become bedlam and madness drowning in the noise of auto generated content. This is just the beginning of the unfolding of an enormous set of unexpected consequences of AI. FYI,I have written extensively on other disruptions that are likely coming "We had hoped technology would replace monotonous tasks while leaving us more time for creative exploration. Instead we are getting exactly the oppo…

I disagree.

1) Garbage replaced with garbage is still garbage.

2) spam replaced with spam is still spam.

3) artisanal writing will always be higher quality and demand higher premiums, viewership, margins, and stickiness.

4) generative AI can be used by humans to craft reasonable boilerplate and edited by humans to add value and depth. Similarly calculators can produce mathematical results but they’re only interesting the context of a humans agency and synthesis. The use of generative AI for writing is more like using a code completer or calculator and at no stage removes a human - the AI must be prompted and guided, and as is shown in the article must be edited and post processed to be appealing. The machine covers only a small part of the exercise. Unless you’re making garbage or spam, in which case see (1),(2)

Re: G/O Media Incorporating AI-Generated Content

#43

Post by Jeff_Brown » Fri, Jul 07, 2023, 6:47 PM UTC

luma wrote: post #5

Jeff_Brown wrote: post #3

My favorite passage: "Like the syndicated sports content that makes up much of Deadspin’s daily output, the presumption would be that AI-generated SEO articles like these would help pad the traffic stats of G/O’s sites. However, it’s safe to assume that Google is going to be fairly wary of this kind of useless content, especially since it’s full of inaccuracies and basic grammatical errors. The question quickly becom…

> “Who is this for?” The answer is clear as daylight: this is for the shareholders. AI costs less than employee, we put employee money into our pockets instead, end of rationale. The Capitalization of Everything is accelerating and it serves nothing but money.

Replacing workers with AI will cost you money if the wages you save are more than offset by the loss in business. Ultimately their business depends on people wanting to visit their sites.

Re: G/O Media Incorporating AI-Generated Content

#44

Post by freediverx » Sat, Jul 08, 2023, 12:07 PM UTC

i_am_jl wrote: post #6

13years wrote: post #2

The internet is going to become bedlam and madness drowning in the noise of auto generated content. This is just the beginning of the unfolding of an enormous set of unexpected consequences of AI. FYI,I have written extensively on other disruptions that are likely coming "We had hoped technology would replace monotonous tasks while leaving us more time for creative exploration. Instead we are getting exactly the oppo…

>The internet is going to become bedlam and madness drowning in the noise of auto generated content. I'm less pessimistic, simply because this content is trash. It's not just that it's inaccurate, it's also that it's uninteresting and repetitive. Who will consume it? If no one will consume it, who will host it, and for what purpose?

Try finding anything good on the internet when 99% of search results are dominated by AI-generated garbage alongside the SEO-generated garbage we already have.