AI and the internet junkyard

lewiswrites http://lewispen.github.io/posts/ai-and-the-internet-junkyard/ -

The ability to discern false content and critically analyze information on the internet is a skill that is increasingly required. Most of us in the tech field use the internet daily for best practice implementations and personal development. Unfortunately, with the advent of AI, it has become much more difficult to discern what content is genuinely helpful. But who is actually at fault here?

The go-to answer is that the fault lies with the company that created the AI. While this may be inherently true, it’s not the whole story…

I attended DDD North where I listened to a talk by Rob Miles on his application of AI. It was an excellent presentation, and his use of AI was exactly what is needed to prevent the internet from being filled with junk. He asked the AI system a question, received a response, implemented it, reviewed it and continued this process until finally it was ready for deployment. This may seem like a simple process, but a lot of the ‘junk’ is posted by people who don’t do the due diligence of testing it or ensuring it aligns with any form of ‘best practice’. They post without ever finding a proper application for it!

So what am I trying to say?

I suppose if we want a better internet, it’s a joint effort between the individual, the community, and the companies that create the models.

There is no one solution to this problem. There’s no chance of everyone collectively banding together to stop posting content without fact-checking, as this problem has persisted way before the advent of AI. Everyone has a different agenda, and posting misleading content is usually a surefire way to create clickbait and generate ad revenue.

From the company perspective, there could be more checks and balances on what content is generated. Also, some restrictions on what content is actually part of the machine learning model could prevent AI from generating and learning from its own content.

If those who aren’t interested in quick gratification continue to do what they do best, then hopefully, at least in the tech community, the cream will rise to the top.

- http://lewispen.github.io/posts/ai-and-the-internet-junkyard/ -

For the original version of this post see Lewis Spencer's personal blog at AI and the internet junkyard