Opinion
The Mark Zuckerberg dystopia
by Oliver Herren
Privatisation of knowledge: why Google Bard and ChatGPT are a problem for us
23.8.2023
Translation: Patrik Stainbrook
In July, Google changed its privacy policy to allow its in-house AI Bard to use the entire public Internet for training. That’s a problem.
The Internet thrives on the exchange of information. People share their knowledge on blogs, social media, YouTube, forums and Wikipedia, just to name a few. And if others want to access this information, they have to search for it on the respective websites.
But what if that’s no longer necessary? What if searching and browsing becomes obsolete through ChatGPT or Google Bard? After all, these tools simply take information and make it available to you directly. On the one hand, this has its advantages. You save time and effort. But in the long run, you’ll pay a high price for your comfort.
After all, what happens when no one visits Wikipedia any more because users have become accustomed to AI tools? Users, donors and volunteer authors on Wikipedia will disappear. Information will become outdated, new pages won’t be added. And available, public knowledge becomes privatised.
Little incentive to share new knowledge
Providers such as Open AI and Google are already taking advantage of the general knowledge available on the Internet and building paid services. They profit from what the general public has created, often paid for by the public, universities or foundations such as Wikipedia.
How is an AI different from a human who knows the entire Internet?
A topic that affects us all
The privatisation of knowledge is a complex issue that affects us all. It’s time to think about what this means for our future. The difference between reading publicly available and privatised information is more than just a matter of access. It’s a central question moving into the future.
How do you see this development?
Oliver Herren
Chief Innovation Officer
Oliver.Herren@digitecgalaxus.chCool: Creating interfaces between the real world and the world of pure information. Not cool: Driving by car to the mall to shop. My life happens online, the information age is where I feel at home.
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