Ask HN: Is there hope against slop?
I'm writing because I think we are missing something important in the discourse on slop. The realization that occured to me recently is that it is simply not possible for media (social, tranditional) platforms to ban and clean the mess of AI generated content — and for some reason I expected them to act on it solely on the sheer amount of nefarious, fraudolent and ill advised AI generated content posted.
I now personally think they wont and can't fix the situation. For one, because there's a great quantity of content that is AI-assisted or AI-generated which actually brings value to their platforms, and secondly because their incentives are (from my standpoint) backwards.
We are sliding on this slop-e incredibly fast, and is ridiculous to expect people to recognize and flag (either directly or by simply not interacting with) AI content in order for capitalistic demand&offer mechanics to kick in. Even if people would have this intention (and they don't appear to) it would be an arms race against even better models (and processes) that produce even more realistic content.
What I ask HN is: what hope is there against the slop avalance we are exepriencing? Is it even possible to exit from this situation? A new kind of platform is possible?
Can you hope for better outcomes for yourself? Absolutely; seek out the groups you enjoy and hobbies that relax you, especially tactile experiences. Build RSS feeds and other forms of decentralized data management. Maybe disconnect from the Internet and do some kind of physical activity if you don’t already.
However, better outcomes for the masses? They won’t move to new platforms; Bsky and Mastodon proved that. And how would new platforms meaningfully change the “slop” issue? As you stated it’s just a game of whack-a-model, not to mention AI can be a value-add. When faced with a stubborn populace and worsening conditions, it’s best to leave than stay in the mudpit trying to lead people away from what they want.