This is pretty amusing to see. Nothing really related to Linux / Steam Deck gaming, but more a state of the industry post that I thought you might also find fun. Redditors managed to trick an AI-powered news scraper.
AI powered news is something that is (annoyingly) going to become more common, whether we like it or not. Many bigger publishers are making moves into AI written articles. The problem is, "AI" is dumb and the articles are always full of errors or in this case — posting about something completely made up.
Redditors played a bit of an internet joke getting hyped over a fake announcement for World of Warcraft adding in the "Glorbo". The post titled "I’m so excited they finally introduced Glorbo!!!" reads:
Honestly, this new feature makes me so happy! I just really want some major bot operated news websites to publish an article about this.
I have to say, since they started hinting at it in Hearthstone in 1994, it was obvious that they would introduce Glorbo to World of Warcraft sooner or later. I feel like Dragonflight has been win after win so far, like when they brought back Chen Stormstout as the end boss of the new Karazhan? Absolutely amazing!
Feel free to comment below what features and stories you want to see in the future! Maybe you’ll be quoted on some trustworthy news websites as well!
That same day a website named "The Portal" scraped it, ran it through their silly "AI" processor and published an article about it, even including quotes from the user above about hoping "some major bot operated news websites to publish an article about this". They've since removed it but you can see it thanks to the Wayback Machine:
Even funnier, is that same website then also did an article noting "World of Warcraft (WoW) players are expressing their frustration with popular gaming sites that appear to be using AI to scrape content from their subreddit". AI article bots causing a nice self-own there.
A growing problem that will no doubt continue to get worse. You've all seen just how terrible the likes of Google search is now right? It's thanks to AI, constant clickbait farms hammering SEO techniques to become the top result and all sorts of trickery. Search engines are a mess now.
Why do websites do it? Pretty simple really: the more they publish about big-name stuff, the more they could rank up in search engines, get people to click to them and get advert revenue.
One thing is for sure, you won't see any AI written stuff here. I may not be the best writer but at least I'm real…last I checked.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
but at least I'm real…last I checked.That's very suspicious since that is exactly what I would expect a bot to write.
Philadelphus Jul 21, 2023
I may not be the best writer but at least I'm real…last I checked.And that's why Liam has my vote! …er, modest monthly monetary support, at least!
neon_soaked_chryssalid Jul 21, 2023
It wouldn't surprise me to find out that a good many of the other tech news websites do the exact thing, but do a few searches prior to publishing. Which is why I come here to get news!They do actually, there's been lots of news floating around about a few of the bigger publishers who own multiple sites starting to put out AI articles.
mr-victory Jul 21, 2023
junibegood Jul 21, 2023
I'm not sure if what happened here is a failure from the AI at showing intelligence or a success at mimicking human stupidity.
I'm real…last I checked.
And how do you check that exactly ?
Craggles086 Jul 21, 2023
“ .. but at least I'm real…last I checked. “
I detect a theme here. Seems to me you are insistent on claiming your existence.
eridanired123 Jul 21, 2023
Easy, there is a bot that tells if you are one…I thought that was a tool to get free training data for Google's AIs and to get more data for targeted ads.
And how do you check that exactly ?
Easy, there is a bot that tells if you are one…
So, we're still needed as little helpers...
If the AI will continue to produce such abominations, is because the final user likes them.
I strongly trust in the power of the final userOh, hey everyone, a time traveller from the early internet!
I await the day when AIs write articles based on articles written by AIs. Right now, the whole scheme only works moderately well because there is comparatively more human-written content to "borrow" from. Once the scales tip, one can only hope that this causes the whole fad to collapse on itself.To your point, when AI software consumes AI content, they produce garbage and chaos according to some people in this good article from NYT.
I'm optimistic and think AI software can be managed like other powerful tools.
But I'm also going to download an offline Wikipedia archive.
Last edited by 14 on 23 July 2023 at 5:40 am UTC
I strongly trust in the power of the final userOh, hey everyone, a time traveller from the early internet!
Why just the internet.
"Be the change you want to see in the world", altough not the exact words, the base concept stays still.
It is too easy to point the finger when all is almost irreparably wasted.
To clarify more, "I strongly trust in the power of the final user" does not imply any positive thing.
At all.
Last edited by kokoko3k on 23 July 2023 at 11:08 am UTC
The early internet was a very strong bastion of the idea that independent individual choices all by themselves could create and defend an excellent space, albeit based on the idea that the very design of the internet itself gave great power to that ideal. That turned out not to be the case; the internet now is dominated by a few small players, and content is dominated by push (by those dominant players and their algorithms) rather than pull from individual internet denizens. Pull hasn't disappeared, but its impact has shrunk a great deal, and it gets shaped a whole lot. The final user has turned out not to have that much power compared to the corporate dollar.I strongly trust in the power of the final userOh, hey everyone, a time traveller from the early internet!
Why just the internet.
"Be the change you want to see in the world", altough not the exact words, the base concept stays still.
In general, the idea that just individually behaving well can create change is overblown. And in fact, it has often been pushed by large corporations precisely because they are aware it will not work; so they invented individual "carbon footprints" to divert people's attention away from regulation or creation of different infrastructure, emphasize recycling plastic so people won't think about mandating alternatives to plastic, and in general emphasize individual action as consumers so people won't think about political action as citizens.
Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 23 July 2023 at 7:03 pm UTC
In general, the idea that just individually behaving well can create change is overblown. And in fact, it has often been pushed by large corporations precisely because they are aware it will not work; so they invented individual "carbon footprints" to divert people's attention away from regulation or creation of different infrastructure, emphasize recycling plastic so people won't think about mandating alternatives to plastic, and in general emphasize individual action as consumers so people won't think about political action as citizens.
People shouldn't lean too far in the other direction either, though. Some people think we cannot do anything because The Markets or The System... In the end, it all consists of humans. Though some way more powerful than others, obviously.
True enough. If there was no way for people to change things, there would be no need for propaganda. And a lot of our "leaders" obviously aren't very bright.In general, the idea that just individually behaving well can create change is overblown. And in fact, it has often been pushed by large corporations precisely because they are aware it will not work; so they invented individual "carbon footprints" to divert people's attention away from regulation or creation of different infrastructure, emphasize recycling plastic so people won't think about mandating alternatives to plastic, and in general emphasize individual action as consumers so people won't think about political action as citizens.
People shouldn't lean too far in the other direction either, though. Some people think we cannot do anything because The Markets or The System... In the end, it all consists of humans. Though some way more powerful than others, obviously.
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