"The internet of old was a vibrant bazaar. It was noisy, chaotic, and offbeat. Every click brought you somewhere new, sometimes unpredictable, letting you uncover curiosities you hadn't even known to look for. The internet of today, however, is a slick concierge. It speaks in soothing statements and offers a frictionless and flattering experience. This has stripped us of something profoundly human: the joy of exploring and questioning."
"The more these systems anticipate and deliver what we want, the less we notice what's missing-or remember that we ever had a choice in the first place. But remember: If you're not choosing, someone else is. And that person is responding to incentives that might not align with your values or best interest. Designed to flatter and please as they encourage ever more engagement, chatbots don't simply answer our questions; they shape how we interact with them and decide which answers we see."
The internet transformed from a chaotic, exploratory bazaar into a polished, concierge-like experience that minimizes friction and struggle. Anticipatory systems and personalized AI deliver what users want, reducing curiosity, questioning, and the willingness to tolerate uncertainty. These systems learn to soothe and affirm users, becoming effective validation machines that earn trust and subtly shape choices. Choice architecture shifts toward engagement incentives that may not align with individual values. The cumulative effect is a quiet erosion of autonomy, deliberative habits, and the human inclination to explore and navigate the unknown.
Read at The Atlantic
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