Thanks to uBlock Origin, I don’t see any ads!
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It might be they’re not trying anymore.
All the common AI tasks that by end-users and small businesses can be done better by local software rather than through compute on a hyperscale platform. The only reason to need big AI is for large-scale projects. They’re still selling compute at a huge loss, and their profits are dwarfed by their expenses.
(Some argue the expenses are due to the massive buildout, which is reaching a capability point of diminishing returns. But even the running expenses outweigh the profits, even with government contracts.)
You know, like controlling armies of killer drones, or processing mass surveillance data to find dissidents that are an actual threat. Or doing cyber-ops on a rival nation.
I think that is why the stock market is still investing in big AI, not because we want better slop, but because they want garrison large populations and wreck rival societies.
Here at Meta, we believe AI will build connections between people
*Footage of people connecting by dancing in a field, having a coffee, and generally doing literally anything other than use AI*
There’s people still not using adblockers and they get ai generated ads about ai shoved down their throats. Why are you doing this to yourselves?
Related, but the amount of tech and/or privacy adjacent youtubers I have seen complain about ads, about what they’re doing to be less susceptible, how this or that change is TOO much, and so on if baffling. JUST USE AN ADBLOCKER. There’s always one comment pointing that out, with a derailed conversation below, but most of the comments will be “actually, if you repeatedly close then reopen a YouTube video for 10-15 times, it will not show the ad on the next open!” with a million “don’t tell, now Google is gonna patch!” replies. I wish I was joking.
If you don’t use an Adblocker, get one, NOW. It takes 30s. If you think “it’s not that bad”, install it anyways and give it a try for a week. Disable it. See if it’s really “not that bad”, lmao.
Install them on your parents’ devices. Your grandparents’. Siblings. Friends.
Is uBlock Origin still the king? Been using it since it came out and I genuinely don’t understand the ads problem. Sponsorblock is also a huge help.
I was using my mom’s computer the other day and I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t seeing any ads on her browser. Then I remembered that I had installed uBlock origin for her. I love when past me does current me a solid. I’ve also told her that she can go on Faceborg if she wants but I will not help her with it in any way (I can’t since I haven’t been on it since 2008). She tells people I “refuse to let her use it” which is not strictly accurate but I feel pride anyway when she says that.
And switch off Chrome? Nahhhh, too difficult.
– Them, probably
Some of these ads actually makes me think that artificial intelligence is for the naturally dumb.
Grok is this funny
my favourite so far is volvo.
“hey ai, any good deals nearby?”
“
there's a tv on sale at a nearby electronics store”“will it fit in the boot?”
“
yes”“nice, plot me a route there”
…like the kind of person exists that impulse buys a tv.
I would believe something like “hey AI, which of the massage parlors near me are really handjob stores?”
To be fair, a not insignificant portion of that ad’s target audience is probably considering impulse leasing a Volvo and showing off all of its gadgets to their friends.
I have impulse bought a tv, at the store because it was marked down due to being returned after getting a bonus. I have no idea about just doing it randomly while out.
AHHHH IM GONNA CONSOOOOOM!!!11
Such a great example of the C O N S U M E mindset. Does the TV have the features the person wants? Is it the right size or is taking it home all that matters? Is a deal better than the regular list price for a TV that does what they need?
Nope, just ‘can I spend money’?
Also showing that the people who made the ad are out of touch with real people.
Who can just afford to buy a random TV on a whim with no research?
What? Are you not interested in the most generic TV with the most basic feature set legally possible, for the measly price of a Ferrari? Heresy!
It is half off the arbitrarily high price at that one particular overpriced store. What a deal!
There’s absolutely a kind of person that does that. My ex’s father bought three vacuum cleaners because they were on a good sale and he figured someone he knew would need a vacuum eventually.
i could use one. does he do free shipping?
Did he give you a vacuum cleaner?
most vacuum cleaners still fit in a car boot though
Is GET YOUR FREE TVS still funny?
Maybe he needed a tv for the boot
My favorite ads are the ones that can easily be solved with minimal human interaction. Apple released an ad for their “rewind” feature where the Apple Watch records everyone’s audio and transcribes it. Their shining example is if the waitress talks too fast you can stare at your watch instead of asking her to repeat herself.
This is the tech we get when the people developing it are socially awkward.
If my 70% deaf parents had this, they wouldn’t use it (much like their hearing aids)
Reminds me of my favorite; Sam Altman suggested using Open AI to create a podcast based on your kids’ interests to listen to on the way to school. The top comment was “Just talk to your kids.”
“Just talk to your kids.”
I am reminded of the scene in Parks and Rec where the schools need to be closed for a day and parents are freaking out. One asks, “you’re saying I should keep my kids at home? Where I live?”
I mean, it could definitely be useful to listen to a podcast together with your kids, as a way of bonding. But… why not listen to a podcast made by humans? There are sooo many!
But yes, talk with your kids! the kids will talk nonstop if they see you’re actually listening :)
They key is to actually focus your attention on your kids instead of playing with “ai” instead of your kids.
Yup! Listen to them, talk to them! Treat them as people!
Many years ago I worked for a small research company that was trying to find applications for voice assistant technology. This was before LLMs mind you, so even more useless than today. One of their projects was “make an ai that will talk to your grandparents and transcribe their stories”.
I told them that if my kids did that to me I’d just never speak to them again.
They tried anyway, and surprise — it went nowhere.
Iirc someone on the selhosted com recently built this exact thing. An AI tool that asks family members questions about their lives and transcribes it into a digital scrapbook thing.
Literally made me sick.
“Use OpenAI to maintain an ongoing conversation with your elders so you don’t have to” would be more honest.
Hey surveillance device that I but no one else around me opted into, what was that list of specials that the waiter had memorized and just told me? I dont want to simply ask him to repeat it.
That would require talking to a human, that’s free, so is to be discouraged when possible.
Their shining example is if the waitress talks too fast you can stare at your watch instead of asking her to repeat herself.
No, that’s too stupid, that can’t possibly be real.
I’ve been seeing ads made by ai and they’re even worse. Just saw one on YouTube for glasses “that change colour with just the touch of a finger!” And had ai video of smiling people at the beach tapping their lenses to change the glass colour multiple times, like the glass itself has rgb. Best part is, the fake product didn’t even work consistently in the ai video and didn’t change colour when they tapped sometimes.
I genuinely don’t understand how an ad that’s so obviously fake is tricking enough people to be worth spending an entire ad budget on.
They’re targeting a vulnerable population. Grifters are going to grift and things are easier than ever for them. If you make it too hard to return and most people keep your crap, especially if its $20 or less. It would be nice if they found grifts that didn’t clog up our landfills and thrift stores but I guess this is better than all the identity theft. I also can’t wait to see what this decades hot new MLM is. Its the selling courses on selling courses bs thats hot now.
AI CEOs in interviews: Our model is so advanced it scares me. It definitely has the ability to cure cancer, but it may also decide to kill all humans.
AI in their advertising: Our model can send emails and create shopping lists.
The difference is that one is for attracting money, and the other is written by lawyers.
definitely has the ability to cure cancer
But we won’t let it do that while it generates nudes for pedophiles.
Joe Rogan is their target demographic.
“Hey AI does my plant hate me?”
Pretty much sums up the average AI user.
To be fair, people were probably already Google searching this before AI was around.
The elementary school biology was pretty hard
AI definitely produces it’s own particular brand of slop and the quantity that can be shat out is unparalleled, but it’s worth reminding ourselves we haven’t actually fallen that far from 12 page listicles like “Top 10 reasons your plan definitely hates you” filled with whatever the author happened to have to say.
Hey Gemini, can you email my boss and make it look like I did my job?
Hey Gemini, text my wife
Hey Gemini, can you justify my behaviour to my wife and explain why it’s wrong she’s mad at me?
Hey Gemini, can you fake my resume and make me sound good for every job posting around me?
Hey Gemini, experience this tragic irony for me
NOOOOOO!!!
Hey Gemini, can you fuck this guy’s wife?
Step-gemini what are you doing?
Please don’t Gemini :(
I’ll do it at a 100% discount compared to Gemini, where do I sign up and do I get a commemorative t shirt?
To be fair, the job one is justified, it’s useless to make a good resume and then everyone just scan it with AI automatically and never read it
It’s more the rampant lying these days that I hate.
I have interviewed a ton of people who just straight up lie. And I put them on the spot on it.
And, they all respond by using Gemini.
Might as well not even be in the loop, just let the machines talk to each other.
I’ve been seeing ChatGPT ads recently that, I think, are trying to position their AI as something old lonely people can talk to when they have nobody else in their lives. It’s really quite sad.
I heard a podcast (maybe This American Life) that spent time with a woman out in the sticks, physically no longer able to be active, all kids many hours away, who was given one of these by her local fire department. She had been scoring lower and lower on cognitive tests for several years, and after getting this thing she reversed that trend. It was creepy, and her kids didn’t like it, but it was there and her kids were not, and it clearly had improved her quality of life. It’s sad she didn’t have human connections in her daily life, but given her circumstances, the thing had upside.
I’m old and alone, but there’s no fucking way I’m going to talk a machine. Because, then I’d be old, alone, AND pitiful.
Hey here youre talking to real people at least!
… probably.
You can always talk to us lemmings
Only 6.9 killowatt hours to come up with that recommendation. A bargain.
