I saw Mike Masnick’s recent piece where he argued that one of the things that might enable a resurgence of the open web might be… AI.
Times are changing, sure. I think Mike makes a great point though: it does lower the barrier of entry to build a website for someone without years of coding experience. A lot of the ecosystem around ATProto is vibe coded and it’s one of the most solid, open, decentralized Twitter alternatives. And aside from that, lots of people hate AI. The whole indie web thing has been thriving as more and more people are stepping away from corporate social media sites with AI-everything.
Ultimately I think, if given the choice, people will pick home-cooked, locally-grown, heart-felt digital meals over factory-farmed fast food technology every time.
People are going to overwhelmingly opt for fast food. It’s convenient, more affordable, and all the questionable ingredients make it addictive as hell. I’ve always thought using AI is like eating meat when you know it’s more humane and ethical to be a vegan. I hate to say it, but I’m not a vegan.
I would never use AI to generate a blog post or an essay, as you can probably tell by my mediocre writing skills, but I also don’t think it’s going to usher in the end times.