For the uninitiated, the world of Generative AI (a.k.a. Gen AI) might seem like sci-fi, but it’s very real indeed.
Today, these systems are producing human-like content across the length and breadth of the internet with a single prompt; think images, essays, music, and even simulating videos.
But let’s also consider this. According to research by multi-platform news publisher The Atlantic, Google’s AI-powered search tool can provide a complete answer to a user’s question nearly 75% of the time without them having to go to an actual website. Some more alarming news coming in: nearly 25% of traditional web pages developed between 2013 and 2023 no longer exist. So, if you’re wondering why your favourite article from 2014 that occupied a permanent place in your bookmarks has disappeared, this is why.
The irony is that while the LLMs (large language models) powering Gen AI tools were designed using data scraped from countless traditional websites, they’re now looking to eliminate the need to go to these very websites. Does this digital decay indicate the end of the traditional internet and a new world wide web spun entirely by AI?
The Changing Face of the Internet
We’ve embraced and adopted Gen AI faster than we took to any other technological development in the last century. Today, it’s made inroads into our lives to the extent that we don’t even take notice of it. For instance, it’s already taken over our search experiences, with multiple search engines like Google and Microsoft Bing having now added AI to their search results.
In fact, people often don’t even scroll past Google’s AI Overview that displays AI-generated content at the top of other results.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Take Midjourney or the aptly-named Leonardo AI, for instance. These AI systems are able to generate highly imaginative and detailed images from just textual descriptions. Or look at Deepfake technology, which, with its ability to synthesise human voices, design graphics, and even simulate realistic human movements in videos, just goes to showcase Gen AI’s vast capabilities.
But it doesn’t end there. At one time, Napster and BitTorrent were considered revolutionary. Today, tools such as MuseNet and Amper Music can generate musical compositions that span a plethora of styles and genres, completely demystifying whatever we thought machines could ever achieve. On the other hand, there’s Jukebox AI, which doesn’t just whip up melodies but even simulates vocals across multiple styles, capturing the essence of artists across the world — including our iconic favourites who aren’t alive anymore.
The Pitfalls of Proliferation
Never has there been a technology that hasn’t had another side to it, and Gen AI’s proliferation of the internet isn’t an exception. For one, content-rich platforms might begin restricting free public access, like Reddit and Twitter/X. So, you can expect more social platforms to move to paid or subscription-based packages, shutting down their free services. APIs will be paywalled and users will need to log in, leading to it becoming more difficult to build third-party apps that crowdsource information from these platforms.
However, the biggest drawback to Gen AI taking over the internet is that it’s bringing about the era of disinformation. If content can be created easily, it also means that misinformation can spread equally easily. We’ve just scratched the surface of Generative AI and we’re already dealing with the deepfake crisis and its scores of fake photographs, articles, news, videos, and whatnot.
Can AI results really be trusted? We’re talking about the problem of AI hallucinations, where Gen AI presents inaccurate or made-up information as if it’s right. Then, there’s also the issue of the actuality of data. Since Gen AI relies on human-generated content, it might end up returning content that’s incorrect or out of date.
For instance, we pulled information of a company’s tech content editor from the company’s website. However, ChatGPT returned with the name of a former editor instead. Clearly, you might have to recheck the content returned by Gen AI. And last but not least, AI-powered fraud is growing, not unsurprisingly, given the inroads that Gen AI has made into every other realm in our lives.
The Trust Problem
The consequences of every scenario above are staggering. With lines between real and AI-generated blurring, any revelations come in too late and the damage is already done. To put it simply, trust is shattered and it’s the era of “seeing is no longer believing.” Trust in online content could dwindle, scepticism could become the order of the day, and the axiom-turned-motto could soon be “trust nothing until verified.”
This underscores the urgent need for robust digital verification infrastructure even more. Provenance is now becoming paramount and it’s important to know the source of a piece of content to ascertain its validity. It could mean the rise of “trust brokers,” a new set of digital intermediaries who specialise in verifying the content’s authenticity. In a way, technological solutions such as blockchain could play a crucial role in maintaining and even establishing trust.
Imagine this: the future of the internet could very well be where every genuine photograph or article comes stamped with a blockchain-verified digital watermark for authenticity. As Generative AI continues to spin a new web, the internet of the old — and how we’ve accessed and consumed information online traditionally — might very well be singing its swan song.
In case you missed:
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- Millennials And Gen Z Are Using AI For Investment. How Prudent Is It?
- AI-Powered Phishing: The Future Of Digital Fraud
- Zero Trust Architecture: The Next Big Thing In Security
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