Generative AI Could Pollute the Internet to Death

Talking about long-term problems

Alberto Romero
9 min readNov 16, 2022
Digital pollution. Credit: Author via Midjourney

Generative AI is the most transformative application the field has ever seen. It will redefine how we create but also how we interact with and relate to the creations of others.

Whereas traditional AI allows us to extract patterns and insights from data, shaping them into new knowledge, generative AI goes beyond that. It uses that data to generate more data.

And that isn’t even its most profound implication. The fact that its usefulness manifests at the consumer level will change everything.

Anyone can use generative AI to create new data.

We’re living in an unprecedented era of creative expansion. What historically has been reserved for the few is now within reach for anyone with a computer and internet access.

Most people are still unaware this technology exists, but it won’t be long before it becomes mainstream. It’s easy to access and use, super cheap, and extremely versatile. And it improves fast.

Generative AI’s potential at the individual level is huge, but at the collective level, it’s life-changing.

At that level, what matters most is scale — not as in “large enough to solve a problem,” but as in “large enough to cause

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Alberto Romero
Alberto Romero

Written by Alberto Romero

AI & Tech | Weekly AI Newsletter: https://thealgorithmicbridge.substack.com/ | Contact: alber.romgar at gmail dot com

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