AI versus Marshy - The Death of the Internet as We Know It

I’m Marshy, and I’m excited to share with you some thoughts on the future of the Internet. As someone who’s been following the latest developments in AI and tech, I’ve been thinking a lot about the impact of generative AI on our online experiences. In this article, I’ll be exploring the idea that the Internet as we know it is dying, and what that means for us. ​ Via Where’s your Ed at? . One of the nerdy things I like to do is look back on old articles (I have a lot of them saved) and cross-check predictions that were made. For example, reputable tech writer covered Magic Leap in 2016. This startup is no longer with us It covers a “ photonic light chip ” that will fundamentally alter the world of virtual/augmented reality. Since then it’s gone bust, Apple has released the Vision Pro, and I covered Google’s build of a new demux last week - a superior photon semiconductor chip that was built with AI. More recently Edward Zitron writes about the Internet as we know it dying. It was written in March 2024, and he shares this pearl early on: Spicy! 🌶️ It’s now May 2024 and here’s the Reddit stock price in USD: ​ As predicted The rest of Edward’s article talks about the death of the Internet. He lambasts SEO, “handmade” goods on Etsy, and LinkedIn corpo “shit-posting” (my words) using AI tools. All of these things are happening. I really like his point about Google Search quality declining too. I don’t have data - I just know in my bones that I could find interesting articles on Google with search 10 years ago - and now that’s impossible. Every single top article is optimised into nothingness - I read it and I get the information I was after - but never learn anything . He argues generative AI is making this problem worse. I disagree. Generative AI is increasing a problem that was already there. This is the way Internet and tech companies make money: 1. Create something useful or entertaining 2. Achieve a critical mass of users 3. Profit off them and protect your moat Examples: Originally appeared in newsletter : AI versus Marshy #45: the death of the Internet, private knowledge AI, and pitching spark