Stephen Downes

Carlo Iacono argues convincingly that today's 'dead internet' isn't the result of AI, it's the result of incentives. Platforms are asking for things that hold attention and produce a useful signal. "That question, applied at scale and compounded over years, is what killed the internet. Not robots. Incentives." The internet has become a giant casino, he argues. Websites are engineered to keep people clicking, and they collect their cut in the form of advertising revenue. "The internet did not start rotting because robots learned to write. It started rotting when platforms became casinos. The robots are just very efficient casino staff."