Is GAG’s new AI title editor just censorship in disguise?

[OneViewpoint]

I just submitted a question prior to this and experienced something new from GAG. Apparently the same people who are determined to protect serial harassers behind the anonymous feature have now decided to point their AI toy at censoring user content. Specifically the questions being asked.

So I wrote a question and pressed submit. I saw a message that my question was being reviewed along with the obligatory rotating timer. Then my question was brought back on the screen heavily edited and redacted by the infinite wisdom of Artificial Stupidity. I fucked around with it a half dozen times to analyze the behavior. This wasn't editing for bad grammar or spelling. This was censoring the content to something a computer algorithm decided it should be.

So far it seems restricted to the "Question Title" line. Artificial Stupidity does not appear to be aimed at the "Add Details" section of the form. But how long before they decide that the "Add Details" section needs to be censored? When do they decide our Opinions need to be censored into vanilla language that fit some site approved blandness and groupthink?

At that point, I'm not interacting with another human, I'm talking to some unaware machine spitting out automated responses for some agenda I'm not privy to. Why bother to interact all at that point? Welcome to the internet controlled by AI. You'll never be able to trust it again. It can be tailored to influence everything you read or write. Let the AI have a conversation with itself.

So for now, I'm not wasting my time creating questions. I may abandon this site altogether if the AI's are eventually directed at controlling our opinions too.

Holy shit - The AI just felt compelled to edit this Question Title too. What a shit show.

Updates

4 mo

Apparently, users are no longer allowed to ask questions. The questions will be written for you by an AI. Your only decision is to accept or reject the question the AI generates for you. What a fucked up world we live in.

[BCRanger10]

All right, look, I've got no love for AI, either here or in general. I've been very vocal about my hatred for the AI characters here and will continue to advocate for their expulsion from G@G. But this feature is something I'm generally not opposed to (not necessarily in favor, just not opposed). All it does is suggest rewording the title of the question so that the question can hopefully get more traffic. I think you can turn it off.

It's all in the MyTake G@G posted yesterday...

Clearer Questions, Better Discussions: Introducing Title Assist on GAG ✨

[WonderingManII]

I have noticed this in gmail too. It tries to tell me what I should write someone. And today it was trying to get me to do a follow up on two emails I wrote 3 days ago, because the people on the other end never responded to me. I feel that the bots are going to finish killing the social side of the internet.

[Abbycado]

This is the "explanation"

Clearer Questions, Better Discussions: Introducing Title Assist on GAG ✨

[OneViewpoint]

Well the explanation is a lie. It will not allow you to change the AI censored title. it will return you to the page where you can edit it. But if you edit the AI changes and hit submit again it simply ignores your edits and presents the AI version again when you hit submit. I tried rewording it myself a bout a half dozen times and me edits were rejected every time in favor of a fixed version the AI came up with.

Sorry but I want to know who I'm talking to. Bad grammar, bad spelling, bad logic and all. That's part of interacting with other humans. I don't want a sanitized version as determined by a machine blindly running an algorithm. At that point the "Question" portion of this site loses all value to me. And the questions are the foundation of interactions here.

Am I now interacting with an AI designed to elicit responses that will produce marketable data for GAG's? Is this about monetizing data collection?

[Abbycado]

I haven't tried a new question since that was implemented. If I go to do it and AI tries to change anything, I will never ask a question on this site again.

[Abbycado]

The irony too. AI will now write your question and then be the first to answer it. XD

[OneViewpoint]

Ever hear the saying... "If all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail"?

Well this seems like GAG has bought themselves a shiny new hammer and they are desperately looking for a place to use it so they can jump on the latest trendy bandwagon and claim their site is using AI like all the cool kids. First they annoyed the shit out over everyone with comical AI responses to questions. Now someone had the bright idea to start censoring the questions.

I've seen this pathetic behavior so many times in business over the years. Someone writes an article in the Harvard Business Review and 5,000 CEO's decide they need to "Offshore" jobs and stretch their supply chains 12,000 miles to the other side of the planet to exploit 3rd world labor markets. But they never thought about a pandemic. Or a natural disaster. Or war. Then it was KanBan, ISO 9000, and Six Sigma. Now it's AI. Everyone scrambled to pound square pegs into round holes so they could be one of the cool kids. Idiots. They never learn. Herd animals.

[Abbycado]

I completely agree with that. They jumped on the bandwagon and now shove it down our throats. Users constantly complain about the AI, yet they don't care. If they did, they would get rid of it.

At the very least, they would give those of us (a lot) the option to ACTUALLY block them so we don't have to see it. They don't even give us that option. I can block every single one of them and they will still show up. I tried.

[OneViewpoint]

Yup I tried blocking the AI too. There's a block button. You can click on it. It does nothing as far as I can tell.

[CherryLove007]

Hell they did and still are warning us... welp

[Sal_Monella]

In recent times, being on GAG is like a frog and hot water. But unlike the frog, I can feel the changes. And I am very close to closing my account.