I disagree with the whole premise of this article (which btw is far too long — it’s clearly been written for machines). “But the web isn’t human-first anymore,” he writes. WRONG. That’s what big tech wants you to believe. My websites are written for humans. Ok, I accept I need to figure out how to make a living from that in this AI era…but the Web is human-first for me, and always will be. That’s non-negotiable.
Ref: The web isn’t URL-shaped anymore - Jono Alderson
Tim Berners-Lee on 6 August 1991:
“The WWW project was started to allow high energy physicists to share data, news, and documentation. We are very interested in spreading the web to other areas, and having gateway servers for other data. Collaborators welcome!”
Notice he said collaborators and not parasites (yes, I mean AI, but also human SEO parasites). With the open social web, we have a chance for human collaboration again.
If by “hard tech” they mean “hard to stomach”, that would be more accurate. I do agree this is absolutely the next big era after Web 2.0, and I find AI tools to be generally useful, but the hype (exemplified by X users), callousness of big cos (massive job losses, and also what Google is doing to publishers) and the dehumanization around this tech is all very worrying.
I take a look at how Online Identity has evolved through the years, from the fluid identities of BowieWorld to the neutered identity culture that Facebook introduced in the 2000s. David Bowie himself played with virtual personas (how could he not?!) and I also look at a 1999 book by US sociologist Sherry Turkle.
Google's latest earnings is currently the top story on @npub1t0qu...ayut. I clicked on the link (how old-fashioned of me), and noted this statement from Sundar Pichai: "Search delivered double-digit revenue growth, and our new features, like AI Overviews and AI Mode, are performing well."
"Performing well" for whom? Not the users, not the publishers, and not the WEB. But clearly, performing well for Alphabet Inc & its shareholders :/
Google used to be focused on web users.
Out of sheer boredom on a Saturday post-dinner, I opened up Threads (I no longer post there) and saw this cry for help. Poor bastards… #MetaWorld #AOLvibes
“For now, many of us still approach A.I. as outsiders — nonnative users, shaped by analog habits, capable of seeing the difference between now and then. But the generation growing up with A.I. will learn to think and write in its shadow. For them, the chatbot won’t be a tool to discover — as Netscape was for me — but part of the operating system itself. And that shift, from novelty to norm, is the profound transformation we’re only beginning to grapple with.”
