An infinite supply of generative AI is bound to crowd out human expression. And consequently, human communication and culture. This applies to writing, visual arts, mathematics, software.. A horrifying prospect.

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calebkaiser 10 hours ago | parent | next [-]

How does the crowding out work here? I'm not being pedantic, I'm genuinely curious about the dynamics as you see them.

My experience in the publishing world is that there is already an infinite supply of writing. Lots of things serve as filters, some for better and some for worse, but ultimately the quality of the writing (however we define that) vs. the field is part of that filter. There is a competition for our limited little attention spans and finite waking hours, and writing better suited to our tastes tends to win out.

I don't see how that dynamic changes with AI. If all writers have more or less equal access to AI, some writers will use it in ways that result in writing I enjoy more than others. Some won't use it at all and still write work I really like. The majority of people writing with or without AI, just as today, won't write stuff I really want to read.

I don't know if I've ever read a piece of SEO-driven content marketing and thought it was particularly profound or that it made an impact on me. Or that I really had an inherently meaningful connection to the author. I sort of don't care if people generate 100x more of that sort of thing. It makes Google searches less effective, I guess? Or it may make my For You Page on Instagram less human-rich?

I've read some nice poetry though. I usually go looking for it. There are a handful of authors I tend to like consistently. The overall volume of poetry published (it's quite a lot!) doesn't really have an effect on my preference for their work. If there was 1,000,000 times more poetry published because of AI, I don't think it would prevent me from seeking out new poems from writers/publishers/curators I like, nor would I probably really notice.

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comex 10 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I agree, with respect to the status quo where AI writing is associated with lower quality.

In the long term, AI writing - mostly done solo, not directed by humans - will likely have higher quality than human writing, while being better suited to people's tastes since it can be personalized for every reader. If so, it's not hard to imagine it crowding out human writing.

You might ask, though, is that a bad thing? If it's legitimately higher quality, then what's wrong with consuming it? Well, I don't know. It certainly seems dangerous for everyone to be in their own little bubble of content. Social media of course tries to do that today, but there are limits. You can't pick any topic, any set of attitudes you want and get an infinite supply of content tailored exactly for you. Even if you find some super niche community to set up shop in, it's still a community; you're still exposed to the outside world at least a little. What happens when that changes?

	▲	wolvesechoes 9 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I don't read to get personalized experience. I want to experience what other person has prepared for me.

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melagonster 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

If I open a online bookstore, I still presume these books were written by human and I can understand some piece of life experience of author.

But there will be filled by AI generated books in future.

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Tanjreeve 9 hours ago | parent [-]

Who's going to make you buy them or read them though?

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eCa 9 hours ago | parent [-]

Some by not knowing. Some by not caring.

	▲	Tanjreeve 9 hours ago \| parent [-]
		That doesn't really make a lot of sense in english without any elaboration

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quadsteel 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

[flagged]

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saimiam 11 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Human nature is to adapt and extend, sometimes extinguish. If there is an infinite supply of AI slop, we will stop seeing AI slop.

On your next highway trip, keep track of how many lawyer ads you really "see". My bet is that you see a whole lot of them but ultimately, only a handful of them stick because they are funny/clever/interesting in some way.

If "attention is all you need", then the lack of attention on AI slop will kill it far more efficiently than any amount of handwringing.