The Coming Enshittification of AI
Will AI follow internet search and e-commerce down the path of enshittification, or can we finally have nice things?
Keywords:
AI Agents, Artificial Intelligence, Enshittification, Path Dependence, Micropayments, Chatbots, ChatGPT, Gemini, Bard, Google, OpenAI, PerplexityAbstract
Will AI serve the vast majority of internet users by making it easier to find the information, products or services they are looking for without having to wade through a cesspool of sponsored results, fake reviews, and inefficient interfaces? Or will it usher in an even worse internet, where AI is used to generate individualized content on the fly that is so subtly fine-tuned to steer users towards sponsored content that they don’t even notice they are being manipulated?
I wrote this piece to expand on Cory Doctorow’s concept of “enshittification,” a term he uses to describe how internet platforms inevitably go from being user-focused to monetizing every aspect of the experience, and ultimately cannibalizing their own users and business customers before collapsing. I argue that generative AI tools like ChatGPT succeed so spectacularly because they’re still in the early phase—where they provide straightforward, ad-free answers that genuinely help people, rather than steering them into sponsored links or frustrating search results. Google, despite inventing the very transformer technology ChatGPT relies on, illustrates the classic “Innovator’s Dilemma” by clinging to its advertising model instead of letting a truly disruptive new product thrive.
By the end, I share my vision of what could replace today’s stagnating platforms. I imagine a future where AI “buyer’s agents” and “seller’s agents” allow individuals and businesses to interact seamlessly, without user-hostile tactics driven by ad revenue. Sure, that may sound optimistic—enshittification has a lot of momentum behind it—but if AI can help us sidestep the entrenched models that drive pointless friction, maybe we can nudge the internet toward a genuinely user-centric environment.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 James Ryan (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.