Public web unravels in AI-driven storm
The old web is coming apart at the seams faster than efforts to shape a new one can fill the gap, Axios managing editor Scott Rosenberg writes.
- Why it matters: Any site that depends on contributions from the public — text messages, product reviews, photo or video uploads — is preparing to be swamped with AI-generated input.
What’s happening: Over the holiday weekend, Elon Musk shut down public access to Twitter, requiring users to be logged in to read anything anyone has ever said in the ostensible “global town square.”
- In a three-week civil warbetween Reddit management and volunteer moderators, many of the discussion site’s subcommunities have “gone dark,” restricting public access in a protest over the company’s plan to charge outside developers for access. Those charges kicked in Saturday.
Behind the scenes: Public sites are also trying to shut their technical gates so others can’t gobble up troves of data for AI models to study.
The bottom line: The tech world built 30 years of growth on the ideals of the open web. But the emergence of ChatGPT and other AI tools trained on this stockpile of human expression — along with a financial downturn that’s made firms scramble for revenue — imperils the web’s old ideal.
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