[bluefirebrand]

Do you remember when email first came around and it was a useful tool for connecting with people across the world, like friends and family?

Does anyone still use email for that?

We all still HAVE email addresses, but the vast majority of our communication has moved elsewhere.

Now all email is used for is receiving spam from companies and con artists.

The same thing happened with the telephone. It's not just text messaging that killed phone calls, it's also the explosion of scam callers. People don't trust incoming phone calls anymore.

I see AI being used this way online already, turning everything into untrustworthy slop.

Productivity boosters can be used to make things worse far more easily and quickly than they can be used to make things better. And there will always be scumbags out there who are willing and eager to take advantage of the new power to pull everyone into the mud with the.

[WarOnPrivacy]

> Does anyone still use email for that?

Sure. Same as in the olden days. Txt for short form, email for long form. Email for the infrequently contacted.

Even back when I used SM, I never comm'd with IRL people on SM. SM was 100% internet people.

[tavavex]

This isn't really an accurate comparison. Email and text messaging are, well, messaging platforms - they're used for direct communication and crucially, anyone can come knocking on your door. After a certain threshold of spammers begin taking over inboxes, people move onto something else.

The internet as a whole isn't that. By and large, you can curate your experience and visit only the places you want to visit. So why exactly would the mere existence of generative AI make an average high-quality website suddenly do a 180 and destroy itself?

I won't debate that garbage data will probably be easier to generate and there will be more of it, but the argument feels one-sided. People are talking like the only genuine use of generative AI is generating bad data and helping scammers, despite it opening a lot of other possibilities. It's completely unbalanced.

[monkeynotes]

> Now all email is used for is receiving spam from companies and con artists.

No it isn't, unless you are 12 maybe.

[mtlmtlmtlmtl]

That's not a response to GPs thesis, just an irrelevant nitpick.