You’re asking the wrong guy. I don’t think it makes sense either even if I’m a (moderate) self-hosting guy.

FYI Sentry is for failure reports. It’s not a spyware.

https://sentry.io/

Masturbating, I’m masturbating.

Wow! Do it in public fully naked with the reasons of the protest tattooed on your body. You may hit the news and reach lots of people!

I accidentally watched an interview to some right-wing incels, and I’d say that they were lonely because they fail as human being.

I suspect that women aren’t dating conservative men, not because they want to punish them, but because they would personally rather not date a horrible person.

Considering how many women remain in an abusive relationship, I’m not sure that conservative men have less chances.

Ping me when you changed the world with whatever you are actually doing behind that keyboard 👋

I selfhost since so long that some of my domains could vote, but I still need some “mainstream” channels to be reached by several people.

If we can argue that close friends will put extra effort to contact you on whatever you use, it’s also true that your landlord, the plumber, the chick you picked up last night, won’t give a shit and simply consider you a lunatic 99% of times if you tell them to use anything non-mainstream.

You still work. You still buy. You still support the system.

Of course, because I’m no more 16 arguing that a revolution is the solution.

All your friends are on a group chat and they will periodically mail you the updates. Sure, why not?

I always hanged around non-mainstream forms of social media. The main issue with that is that the lack of “normies” soon transforms them in bubbles where extreme or controversial ideas are normalized.

Good luck self hosting something to message your contacts.

Wow, your arguments are so solid! I’m totally convinced!

We have lost all sense of how to influence the world and all ability to gauge scale.

Absolutely correct!

I believe in “voting with your wallet” and I do little sacrifices to respect my ideas, but I’m conscious that I’m just one step above people clicking on petitions online in terms of impact.

Sure, why not?

Fast forward a couple of months:

• you lost contacts with 95% of your contacts you used to hear through apps. Last time you met a group of friends was when you randomly met them in a restaurant having a dinner together. “We invited you but you didn’t reply”. The 5% still calling you wants your money.

• your bank started charging an extra fee because you did not object when they notified a change in the contract via email. You missed a notification from the tax office and now you have to pay a small fine.

• your car cannot circulate anymore because you live in Europe and cities may ban old polluting engines.

• you read less because it started to be expensive to buy all those magazines. On the flip side you are more fit because you have to walk 2km to reach a place that sells them.

If you say so.

I think that today some people live in an internet bubble reinforcing each other’s ideas without anyone saying “maybe you are exaggerating”. It’s true in general, not just for AI. When I talk with RL friends who are not such “internet nerds” as me, their views are much less black and white than mine… and I’m not remotely as black and white as some people here.

Back in topic, would you be that negative if AI’s issues were addressed and solved? Because they will be addressed and solved. It’s a basic business need to minimise costs (energy, water) and solve legal disputes (copyright).

First, mobile phones were extremely common in 2005 (20 years ago), even I had one, and I was literally a child.

My mistake, I meant modern smartphones.

I wonder if there were people in the 80s and 90s (when mobile phones were actually rare, but becoming more common) who felt the same pure, visceral disgust for them that I feel for LLMs.

Disgust no, but it was something for people in business, so non-business people could be ridiculed. Also consider that the equivalent of social media was the pub at the corner so those who may have had a “visceral disgust” didn’t have a chance to find others with their extreme vision. People were more moderate on average without the modern internet bubbles in which any crazy idea finds a club of supporters.

Ironically you just said that artists are wrong to be concerned.

I see your point. Assuming that in the future we will consume content as we do today, you are probably right.

My point is a bit different though: things will change. Famously in the 70s somebody didn’t see the point of having a computer at home because nobody would need the stuff that computers could do in that period. Then needs changed, new needs came, computers evolved, and now we have computers even in our pockets. With AI it will likely be the same.

with art the living standard is already effectively “maxed out”

Quite frankly, it’s not. Now “video on demand” means that you can sit on your couch and start the movie when you want. Tomorrow it may mean that you will also decide the content. Another sequel of Star Wars? Sure! A new season of Game of Thrones? No problem!

Moreover, AI is being used to create products and also in scientific research. It’s already improving our standards.

Yes but it should disappear back into the direction of many smaller websites and more privacy, not in the direction of all of that texture being totally consumed by LLM generated search results and everyone further congregating on a smaller number of sites that collect every iota of data possible.

My guess? AI will kill the cheap stuff, but internet will not change much overall and surely not rapidly.