@at_elan on August 02, 2023

#google   #dystopia   #tweets   #falsehoods   #misinformation and disinformation  

This isn't specifically about AI, but the article itself is really interesting. At its core is a theory about the role of information-related technologies:

I have a theory of technology that places every informational product on a spectrum from Physician to Librarian:

The Physician saves you time and shelters you from information that might be misconstrued or unnecessarily anxiety-provoking.

In contrast, the Librarian's primary aim is to point you toward context.

While original Google was about being a Librarian and sending you search results that could provide you with all sorts of background to your query, it's now pivoted to hiding the sources and stressing the Simple Facts Of The Matter.

Which technological future do we want? One that claims to know all of the answers, or one that encourages us to ask more questions?

But of course those little snippets of facts Google posts aren't always quite accurate and are happy to feed you pretty much anything they find on ye olde internet.