The Ai thread

🤖 AI Thread Summary ▶ Generated 05 Jun 2026 · 50 posts

Summary: "The AI Thread"

Key Points & Conclusions

  • Historical precedent: Multiple members cited past technological disruptions (telegraph, printing press, steam engine, computers) where initial concerns proved manageable long-term
  • Job displacement concerns: Unemployment is identified as a major risk, particularly in banking, insurance, accounting, diagnostics, and creative fields like writing
  • Writer anxiety: The thread originated from concerns about writers during their strike regarding AI-generated content
  • Need for adaptation: New technologies typically create new opportunities, though skill transitions may not be easy for all workers
  • Wealth distribution challenge: One member emphasized that capitalism without regulation may struggle to manage AI's societal impact fairly
  • Data privacy issues: Extended discussion of tracking pixels, browser fingerprinting, and cross-platform data sharing by Meta and Google
  • Creative authenticity: Discussion of AI's impact on influencers, content creators, and the future ability to verify real vs. AI-generated content
  • Search market shift: Users migrating to DuckDuckGo in response to Google's mandatory AI search features
  • Security vulnerabilities: Reports of AI chatbots being exploited for unauthorized account access

Areas of Disagreement

No significant disagreements were identified. Members generally agreed that:

  • AI displacement concerns are legitimate but historically manageable
  • The real challenge is ensuring equitable distribution of benefits
  • Some members acknowledged potential job loss while maintaining optimism about long-term adaptation

The discussion remained largely collaborative, with members building on each other's points rather than debating fundamental positions.

Eric said:
Glad to see I'm not the only one.

Traffic to DuckDuckGo's proudly 'No AI' search page has tripled since latest Google AI search update​

Click to expand...
They had more prominent AI suggestions before, but now it shows only as
1780241154778.png

😊
 
Eric said:
Google is the worst, within an hour after my search I'm getting a flood of posts on my terms in Instagram.
Click to expand...
Last week I started getting ads for watercolor kits the night after I noticed my wife painting watercolors in a little book my daughter got her for mother’s day.

Investigating, turns out my wife had been searching for additional supplies in google, which pulled up pages that use facebook’s ad network and use tracking to associate those web page loads with her facebook account. Facebook knows that we are married, and therefore assumes I am interested in such things, I guess.
 
Well, Google DID remove "Don't be evil" from their code of conduct....so should we really be expecting more of them?

Someone needs to do a painting Ala "last supper" with the Alphabet board all sporting evil handlebar moustaches and laughing maniacally.
 
Cmaier said:
Investigating, turns out my wife had been searching for additional supplies in google, which pulled up pages that use facebook’s ad network and use tracking to associate those web page loads with her facebook account. Facebook knows that we are married, and therefore assumes I am interested in such things, I guess.
Click to expand...

Even if FB didn’t already have those relationships in the user DB, the shared IP address their tracking pixels see would do it as well. And even logged out, the fingerprint would likely get data associated to one of your accounts on top of that.

It’s interesting tech, in a grim sort of way.
 
Nycturne said:
Even if FB didn’t already have those relationships in the user DB, the shared IP address their tracking pixels see would do it as well. And even logged out, the fingerprint would likely get data associated to one of your accounts on top of that.

It’s interesting tech, in a grim sort of way.
Click to expand...
I use the iCloud ip-masking thing, which I would hope foils facebook’s pixel tracking.
 
Cmaier said:
I use the iCloud ip-masking thing, which I would hope foils facebook’s pixel tracking.
Click to expand...

It should make it harder, but browser fingerprinting is still pretty effective too. Private relay doesn’t seem to impact that too much, and a solid fingerprint might just unmask the relay happening.
 
Nycturne said:
It should make it harder, but browser fingerprinting is still pretty effective too. Private relay doesn’t seem to impact that too much, and a solid fingerprint might just unmask the relay happening.
Click to expand...
sure, but my wife and i don’t share a browser (or any device), so the only way to fingerprint her and have it hash on me, I think, would be by our WAN address.
 
Nycturne said:
It should make it harder, but browser fingerprinting is still pretty effective too. Private relay doesn’t seem to impact that too much, and a solid fingerprint might just unmask the relay happening.
Click to expand...
Using Little Snitch I see that many if not all websites are asking the permission for the access twice.
I guess it’s useful to them to pinpoint where or who we are better?!
 
Uh oh. Saw an article saying AI is already capable of replacing attractive influencers, our most precious resource. These people can never get a break. They might get condemned to a life of not being seen. Oh, the humanity!

On the flip side, when attractive people are accused of being fake it will now be 100% accurate.
 
Chew Toy McCoy said:
Uh oh. Saw an article saying AI is already capable of replacing attractive influencers, our most precious resource. These people can never get a break. They might get condemned to a life of not being seen. Oh, the humanity!

On the flip side, when attractive people are accused of being fake it will now be 100% accurate.
Click to expand...

As an unattractive influencer, I’m happy to hear my job is safe.
 
Yoused said:
Then the power went out. So I went outside, and then I saw real people. I mean, come on, people look like that? I hope it comes back on soon, because those tiny eyes just look wrong.
Click to expand...


Mark Cuban's hypothesis is people will be so distrustful of what they see online that it will inspire them to go out and mingle with people in the real world.

There's that, but there's also people who will just decide existing in the fake online world is their comfort zone even knowing its fake. There's already an economic analog to that, people putting on the appearance of being middle class even though they are living way outside their means on credit.
 
In a way, I find map programs helpful, because they tell everyone the best route from A->B, so I make sure to take the reduced stress route that the nav programs are guiding most people away from.
 
Yoused said:
In a way, I find map programs helpful, because they tell everyone the best route from A->B, so I make sure to take the reduced stress route that the nav programs are guiding most people away from.
Click to expand...
I just think it’s arrogant of the AI to assume that just because I got my lips filled that one time, I need to go back for a breast lift.
 

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