[epidemian]

Maybe us?

I mean us as in a network of trusted individuals.

For example, i've been appending "site:reddit.com" to some of my Google queries for a while now —especially when searching for things like reviews— because, otherwise, Google search results are unusable: ads disguised as fake "reviews" rank higher than actual reviews made by people, which is what i'm interested in.

I wouldn't be surprised if we evolve some similar adaptations to deal the flood of AI-generated shit. Like favoring closer-knit communities of people we trust, and penalizing AI sludge when it sips in.

It's still sad though. In the meantime, we might lose a lot of minds to this. Entire generations perhaps. Watching older people fall for AI-generated trash on Facebook is painful. I hope we acted sooner.

[binary132]

I’m pretty sure most of reddit is botted / shilled astroturf too at this point, especially in product reviews, they’re way ahead of you

For all I know your reply is also a botted response to promote reddit reviews as trustworthy and bot-free :P

To put it another way: who defines the trust network?

Or another way: every trust network will be invaded.

Or another way: trust is already actively exploited and has been for decades (or longer, if you want to go there....)

[epidemian]

Ok, i'll concede that you have a very good point there. Trust can be (and is being) exploited.

I guess for me, so far at least, some sites feel much more legit and human that the obviously bot-ridden mess that are the likes of Twitter/Instagram/FB. Like for example here or on Lobsters (and more on the latter) i have the feeling that it's mostly people talking with people. On the couple of relatively-small subreddits i visit, i feel the same too.

But i could be wrong of course. Maybe the tone of an HN poster is super easy for an LLM to copy; there's a reason why "shit HN says" exists after all. The only reason i have to believe otherwise is that, in comparison, Instagram or Twitter bots are so obvious and bland, and those companies have way more resources to throw at AI than HN or reddit :P

[binary132]

Even HN has shills and bots, just not as obviously as some places.