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<p>Very insightful. I think you could probably write a paper on
this topic.<br>
</p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">Regards,
George Toft</pre>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 12/11/2023 1:40 PM, David Schwartz
via PLUG-discuss wrote:<br>
</div>
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cite="mid:2B2309AA-13F6-4A26-B9A3-E068CD5F9718@thetoolwiz.com">
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<div class="">On Dec 11, 2023, at 6:09 AM, Keith Smith via
PLUG-discuss <<a
href="mailto:plug-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext" moz-do-not-send="true">plug-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org</a>>
wrote:</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
I see AI being a windfall in the near term. Example would
be an affiliate marketer could use AI to write articles
for his/her blog. The article wold need to be rewritten,
however it would be so much faster and potentially more
comprehensive, If one can teach AL modern SEO then that
person could rock!!<br class="">
<br class="">
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
It’s already nearly impossible to find anything useful on Google
due to abuse of tricks people use to get their web pages found by
the search engines, and there are plenty of tools that are
teaching people how to do this using AI tools like ChatGPT already
that are only going to make it a couple orders of magnitude worse.
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">I’m in a class now that teaches a different approach
that also uses AI for content, but it feeds the search engines
what they’re looking for, not the same crap everybody else is
feeding them, and it works really well. It looks similar to SEO,
but it takes a totally different approach. It’s a manual method
of finding keywords, with AI used to help write content. If AI
could be trained to do the whole process, then they’d use it for
that as well, but I don’t see that as something we’ll see
anytime soon.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Suffice it to say it’s a process that looks for
what’s missing, which isn’t something automation is very good at
— you’d end up with a huge list of pretty much irrelevant stuff,
or random selections from such a list. It takes a little work to
figure it out yourself. I have no idea how you’d train an AI to
do it.<br class="">
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">There seems to be plenty of people using AI to
create windfalls by cranking out content in seconds that
historically has required weeks or months or longer for people
to do. What it’s doing is putting ghostwriters out of
business, and increasing demand for editors.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">I watched a video about a 20 yo kid who has been
using ChatGPT to crank out books in a particular niche for
about 18 months. He has created a particular brand and creates
books under that brand, and has published several hundred now.
He says he’s already made over $1M, and can sell his biz for
at least that much. Of course, he teaches a class on how to do
it. The ultimate outcome here is the same as with SEO: markets
are going to be flooded with generic material and it will be
impossible to find anything specific to your needs.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">I’m working on an app that generates personalized
Guided Meditations (GMs). It does NOT use AI because AI isn’t
needed, but that doesn’t stop people from telling me it’s a
fool’s errand because there are already thousands of GM apps
on the market, the vast majority of which are free. There’s a
simple reason for this: every course on app development
typically includes an exercise to build a virtual MP3 player.
So people build it, then think, “Ahh, I can use this to load
up meditations and then offer it up as a meditation app!”
Another exercise lets you build a recorder app that creates …
yes, you guessed it … MP3 files.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Last count there were over 6000 of these
“meditation apps” aka “virtual iPods” loaded up with
prerecorded personal meditations, and over half were from
people in India. So what you have is a market flooded with
generic GMs by people who aren’t very well-trained at creating
them, about topics that are of interest to those individuals,
and no way to search them for specific attributes. They
started out simply as a programming exercise, but the
collective effect is an entire market niche flooded with
content and no way to search for anything specific. This is
not an “AI problem” but a scalibility problem. Maybe we can
use AI to fix it, but I think that’s a waste of resources with
very little return.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">The problem with flooding the market with stuff
like this, be it web pages, books, meditation apps, videos, or
whatever, is that there’s nothing in place to help you sift
through these huge haystacks for a few needles that represent
the intersection of qualities YOU ARE MOST INTERESTED IN. This
is the same problem that’s affecting Google because of SEO. It
will inevitably lead to the same problems in any market that
has been flooded with content — there’s no way to find stuff
quickly and efficiently that fits your needs other than
building a “better search engine”, right?</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">What we’re doing is building huge digital garbage
dumps and telling people looking for specific things, “Hey,
dig away!” </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">SEO has broken the internet, and AI will only make
things worse. It’s a HUGE garbage dump or warehouse, and
nobody has the time nor the interest to waste trying to find
specific things buried there. </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">But what if it was quicker to just create what you
need in 5 minutes instead of searching for it in a huge
warehouse?</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Here’s the thing I see this situation inevitably
leading to: people who love to read will soon be able to go to
something like a vending machine where you give it a few
details about yourself and what you like and dislike, push a
button, and it generates a personalized eBook, meditation,
video, or whatever you want, tailored just for you. It’s a
one-off thing and yours to do what you want with it. Why not
clothing? Or blog entries? </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">People keep speaking of this in terms of ways to
replace what people are already doing. But these approaches
are limited by our current abilities and resources. That’s not
very useful and it’s not where AI is going to really shine.
Why use AI to create more of the same garbage that nobody can
find? Google has lost its ability to find stuff, and has
turned into a way of generating money simply from people
searching for stuff that’s getting harder and harder to find,
making their search sessions longer and hence generating more
profits for Google. At some point, people will realize it’s a
huge waste of time!</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">What people are missing about the value of AI is
that it’s going to allow the large-scale creation of
PERSONALIZED CONTENT. </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
<div class=""><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></div>
</div>
<div class="">This is the beginning of mass customization and
personalization of virtually everything! </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">The digital world will be first, and before long
it will lead to using 3D printing to create personalized
physical stuff as well.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">For example, I have arthritis in my thumbs, and it
makes it hard to pick up normal drinking glasses. I prefer
those with a handle, but I like one that’s big enough to fit
my four fingers in so I don’t need to use my thumb for
leverage. Lots of mugs have small handles on them that are
hard to get even two fingers into. Some are larger, and some
handle shapes work better than others. </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">However, consumers are stuck buying things that
the manufacturers have decided to make based on a lot of
criteria that have nothing to do with you or me. But we might
want a specific configuration. So why not be able to order
glasses and mugs with a specific design, including a handle
that fits what fits us best? Or no handle at all?</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">See how this starts to shift the whole world of
mass marketing to personalized made-on-demand goods and
services? AI will help with some of it, and isn’t needed for a
lot either. But given our current ways of doing things in the
world, it’s impossible — so nobody is doing it. No jobs will
be “lost” with this new approach to personalized stuff. In
fact, lots of new jobs will be created.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">In the broader scheme of things, think of the
publishing biz as a way to create personalized “fantasy
novels” or even movies that cater to an individual's quirks.
Who’s doing this now? NOBODY! Entirely new jobs will be
created! </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">This is basically why Blockbuster went bust —
because their business model was to set up big warehouses in
different places around town and people would go in and browse
for what they wanted. Netflix came along and let you browse on
the web from home or the office, and they delivered your order
to your door — a more personalized offering. Now you can
browse and click a button and start watching what you want
instantly. Netflix still exists, but they don’t ship out disks
in the mail any more.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">From another angle, consider something where you
take a test on some topic and then you’re given a lesson (or
series of them) designed to not just reinforce what you
already know, but with additional material that you’re weak in
or is the “next step” in your training. If you have consistent
trouble with particular topics, it will give you more
exercises in those areas and provide additional help where
it’s needed. It would work more like a personal tutor than a
teacher presenting material based on a one-size-fits-all
classroom setting. </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">This is creating a totally new realm that is far
too inefficient and expensive for any individual to do. No
jobs will be lost because nobody is doing it now, nor can
anybody do it on any sort of scale. </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">The jobs that will be lost are the ones that are
doing repetative jobs making or doing the same things over and
over again — jobs that do not lend themselves to personalized
or customized products. Sure, there are lots of jobs like
that, but so what? Automation is already eliminating a lot of
them, not AI. And there will always be a market for
"jellybeans”.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Consider a future where most of what you can buy
online is personalized to your specific needs. Not like
ordering a pair of shoes or clothing from a preset list of
sizing options, but where you enter your physical measurements
and other details and get something that fits like a glove
made just for you. Now extend this to most other things you
consume or use regularly, especially those that “don’t quite
fit”.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><span
style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"
class="">-David Schwartz</span></div>
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style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal;">
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</div>
</div>
<br>
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