Since I used to run GPT-2 bots on Reddit (openly declared as such, in a bot-friendly sub, using LLMs so stupid/deranged nobody would mistake them for real accounts) I’ve been thinking about this problem for a long time. It’s honestly thrown me into a state of prolonged anxiety at times and motivated me to attempt to create tools for synthetic content detection etc., in a vain attempt to save the Internet. And I’ve concluded that we’re well past that point, and approaching the point at which we need to reconsider what, exactly, the internet really is, and that is to say that it should not be considered a source of any sort of authentic experience. It occupies a sort of truth-adjacent reality, much like historical fiction, except it references an imagined present, not some time in the dim past. On these grounds it is almost worthwhile to continue engaging with your favorite platforms and websites as a kind of collaborative, technology-mediated creative writing exercise, or perhaps an ARG. It doesn’t feel quite so pointless, viewed through that lens.
And I’ve concluded that we’re well past that point, and approaching the point at which we need to reconsider what, exactly, the internet really is, and that is to say that it should not be considered a source of any sort of authentic experience.
It never was an “authentic experience”. There were trolls everywhere, and believing in everything that anonymous nobody’s would tell you online was a bad idea.
Now? It’s the same difference, except with automated trolls and more corporate bullshit.
I’d add another difference: way more idiots. Back in the day, that idea that everything on the internet needed to be taken with a grain of salt was incredibly widespread. It was one of the bedrocks of internet culture, and it’d get memed to death.
Now, the number of people who view everything on the internet as gospel truth has surpassed the number of healthy skeptics.
I think the skeptics have always remained at a constant level. It’s just that echo chambers and the siloing of communities have skewed people’s perceptions of those levels.
The volume - weaponization levels of spew - makes a difference between an average Joe gullibly “charging” their phone in a microwave to the future of nations and their public being undermined.
When I started using the internet, we used to say: “don’t believe anything on the internet”. They undermined that for “safety” with their quest against fake news. And here we are now.
Since I used to run GPT-2 bots on Reddit (openly declared as such, in a bot-friendly sub, using LLMs so stupid/deranged nobody would mistake them for real accounts) I’ve been thinking about this problem for a long time. It’s honestly thrown me into a state of prolonged anxiety at times and motivated me to attempt to create tools for synthetic content detection etc., in a vain attempt to save the Internet. And I’ve concluded that we’re well past that point, and approaching the point at which we need to reconsider what, exactly, the internet really is, and that is to say that it should not be considered a source of any sort of authentic experience. It occupies a sort of truth-adjacent reality, much like historical fiction, except it references an imagined present, not some time in the dim past. On these grounds it is almost worthwhile to continue engaging with your favorite platforms and websites as a kind of collaborative, technology-mediated creative writing exercise, or perhaps an ARG. It doesn’t feel quite so pointless, viewed through that lens.
It never was an “authentic experience”. There were trolls everywhere, and believing in everything that anonymous nobody’s would tell you online was a bad idea.
Now? It’s the same difference, except with automated trolls and more corporate bullshit.
I’d add another difference: way more idiots. Back in the day, that idea that everything on the internet needed to be taken with a grain of salt was incredibly widespread. It was one of the bedrocks of internet culture, and it’d get memed to death.
Now, the number of people who view everything on the internet as gospel truth has surpassed the number of healthy skeptics.
I think the skeptics have always remained at a constant level. It’s just that echo chambers and the siloing of communities have skewed people’s perceptions of those levels.
The volume - weaponization levels of spew - makes a difference between an average Joe gullibly “charging” their phone in a microwave to the future of nations and their public being undermined.
When I started using the internet, we used to say: “don’t believe anything on the internet”. They undermined that for “safety” with their quest against fake news. And here we are now.
Subreddit simulator?
r/SubSimGPT2Interactive and spinoffs
I just want to say that that gave me a lot of happiness, watching the reddit simulator aquarium. Thanks for doing it