this post was submitted on 15 Oct 2023
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Google has sent internet into ‘spiral of decline’, claims DeepMind co-founder (www.telegraph.co.uk)
submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/technology
192 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Google has plunged the internet into a “spiral of decline”, the co-founder of the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) lab has claimed.

Mustafa Suleyman, the British entrepreneur who co-founded DeepMind, said: “The business model that Google had broke the internet.”

He said search results had become plagued with “clickbait” to keep people “addicted and absorbed on the page as long as possible”.

Information online is “buried at the bottom of a lot of verbiage and guff”, Mr Suleyman argued, so websites can “sell more adverts”, fuelled by Google’s technology.

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[–] CosmicCleric 75 points 8 months ago (2 children)

He said search results had become plagued with “clickbait” to keep people “addicted and absorbed on the page as long as possible”.

It's not just Internet searches. Video games are designed psyop-like as well now, all to drive engagement, and more profits.

At this point we need legislation so companies cannot make products that are mentally manipulative and detrimental to their customers.

They're getting dangerously close to "drug pushers" territory.

[–] hiramfromthechi 39 points 8 months ago (1 children)

"dangerously close"?

"There are only two industries that call their customers 'users': illegal drugs and software." – Edward Tufte

[–] CosmicCleric 7 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

“There are only two industries that call their customers ‘users’: illegal drugs and software.” – Edward Tufte

lol! I had never heard of that quote before now, ty for sharing!

[–] pete_the_cat 12 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

This has been going on for decades and Blizzard started using it almost exclusively with World of Warcraft. They made the game a virtual Skinner Box (look it up and read about the experiments if you've never heard about it, pretty much animals will prefer to do things that they derive pleasure from instead of necessary things, like eating), and other companies followed suit. Then loot boxes and IAPs became a thing.

[–] CosmicCleric 7 points 8 months ago (1 children)

This has been going on for decades

It seems like it's a recent development in this decade, at least an accelerated form of it.

Almost like recently evolved in corporations got together and decided enmass to start treating their customers more like things to exploit.

Less win-win, and more win-lose.

[–] pete_the_cat 1 points 8 months ago

It's absolutely gotten worse, but it's been a thing for decades.