The enshittification of AI is progressing. ChatGPT has announced that they will introduce ads in the next few weeks.
This means that stage one of enshittification is complete. The investors feel that they have locked in a "user base". Enough people are using AI regularly that they can begin using it to push adverts without fear of driving users away (because none of us actually want adverts and they know this). And of course, one can always pay for "ad free access". That is, now you will pay for what you are used to getting for free, or you will have to suffer increasingly intrusive adverts.
We have to remember that this was the plan all along. AI apps like ChatGPT were always going to be vehicles for adverts. Capitalists only invest $billions when they expect a return on investment. Whatever they do for us, for capitalism they are just another way to exploit us for profit.
Stage two enshittification is about to begin. This will lead to the site being optimised for advertisers rather than users. The tide of shit rises slowly and before long, as on Facebook, most of what we see is adverts.
Down the road, once the advertisers are locked in, the company will also betray them. The ultimate goal here is to make huge profits. And so stage three of enshittification sees the site being optimised to extract profits, at the expense of both users and advertisers. Until the site becomes unusable, users flee, and the next big "advance" in technology is floated.
AI was never about "making our lives better". That's just gaslighting. AI is about profit; it's about the wealthy getting wealthier. (Where wealth = income-generating assets).
This form of AI is being beta tested on us. Now that it performs reliably, it can be used to replace human beings in the workplace.
It's already more or less impossible to contact one of the big internet companies. With AI meditation, you will never talk to another human being in the companies you are forced to deal with online. Online shopping is killing local retail in ways that supermarkets could only dream of.
Walk around any major city in the world and chances are it looks identical to where you live. All the shops are multinational chains, there few if any local retailers. Individuals cannot compete with global juggernauts. And those same juggernauts are betting that AI is the next big thing in exploiting the world for profit.
