How Stuff Works replaced writers with GPT-generated content and laid off editors

This seems really short-sighted. Why would I go to How Stuff Works when I can just ask the LLM myself?

Maybe there's just no possible business model for them anymore with the advent of LLMs, but at least if they focused on the "actually written by humans!" angle there'd be some hook to draw people in.

This is going to happen for a while. Execs who actually have no clue have now been sold on the idea that AI lets them keep making money without paying labor.

It will fail eventually when the execs eventually take the time to learn what AI is capable of and what it isn't capable of.

Who am I kidding? It'll continue indefinitely because there are few consequences for clueless executives.

Considering most articles on the internet that don’t come from legitimate newspapers sound like they’re written by a 6-year-old who gets paid by the word, how much worse could it get?

People really don't understand the current state of LLM, like the pictures generated "Its a really good picture of what a dog would look like, it's not actually a dog". Like a police sketch, with a touch of "randomeness" so you don't always get the same picture.

I'm guessing they will try to solve this issue with some cheap human labour to review what is being generated. These verifers will probably not be experts on all the subjects that the llm will be spitting out, more of a "That does kind of look like a dog, APPROVED".

Let's say I'm wrong, and LLM's can make as good of an article as any human. The content would be so saturated (even a tumblr user could now make as good and as much content as one of these companies), I would expect companies to be joining in on all the strikes 😆.

Funny world we are all going into.

Boas Entradas

Bizarre. Not even keep a few editors for... the editing??

I wonder how this will affect the Stuff You Should Know podcsst.

I've read articles that were clearly created using ChatGPT, there was no extrapolation to add context/details to illustrate their points, and parts of it read like it just pulled from a Wikipedia page. The tone felt more robotic than pieces they published 6~8 months ago.

ChatGPT can be useful when it's part of a larger writing process, but I have a feeling that sites that create prompts and paste the output as their articles will slowly die-off because the quality isn't there.

Someone should create a blocklist for all these new AI-driven websites.

For me personally thee primary appeal of websites are that there's human authors behind the content... otherwise I'd just ask an 'AI' myself.

How about instead of all the tracking cookie popups for permission, we force these sites to display a message that the content is AI generated.

Great. Now people are going to read up a bunch of bs generated by a language model and confidently spread around "hallucinations" as facts.

How long until we can a browser extension that lets us know when we are on a site written by AI?

I don’t mean AI detection, but instead, sites that announce they are laying off editors in favor of AI.

Creating a market for real human content? Sounds tasty

Used to be one of my favourite sites when I was younger. Haven't visited that site in ages. Holy crap, has it gone to complete shit. Like way worse than I thought possible

I wonder how Josh and Chuck from SYSK feel about this.

Holy shit. Haven't heard of How Stuff Works since like 2002...

This seems like a really dumb idea.

ChatGPT comments on the news:

Prompt : In recent news, the management of "How it's Made" has fired all the writers and editors on the show and intends to replace them with a large language model. What do you think?

ChatGPT

As an AI language model, I don't have personal opinions or feelings, but I can provide an analysis based on the information available up to my last update in September 2021.

If the management of "How It's Made" decides to fire all the writers and editors on the show and replace them with a large language model like me, there are both potential benefits and drawbacks to consider:

Benefits:

Cost Savings: Employing an AI language model could potentially reduce production costs as it eliminates the need for paying human writers and editors.
Speed and Efficiency: AI models can generate content at a rapid pace, which may allow for more frequent episode releases or updates.
Access to Data: AI models have access to vast amounts of data, which could result in more comprehensive and detailed explanations of the manufacturing processes.
Consistency: AI-generated content can maintain a consistent style and tone throughout the episodes.

Drawbacks:

Lack of Creativity: While AI models can provide factual information, they might struggle to inject creative elements or engage with the audience on a more emotional level.
Human Touch: Human writers and editors bring their unique perspectives and storytelling abilities to the show, which might be missed with an AI-only approach.
Reliability: AI-generated content can sometimes produce errors or inaccurate information, which would require careful human oversight and fact-checking.
Audience Response: The audience's perception of AI-generated content might not be as positive as content created by human professionals, leading to a potential decrease in viewership.

Ultimately, the success of this decision would depend on how well the AI language model can replicate the engaging and informative aspects that made "How It's Made" popular in the first place. It's important for the management to carefully evaluate the pros and cons and ensure a seamless transition if they decide to go down this route. Additionally, audience feedback and receptiveness to the AI-generated content will play a significant role in determining the long-term viability of such a change.

I wonder what they will do when the tripe the LLM spews doesn't match the pictures they are showing.

This is fine. Just let us know so we know what shows to avoid.

Chat-GPT became far less useful to me when I realized it will actively lie to you. It was too good to be true it turned out. These people will figure it out eventually, Chat-GPT is not an AI, it's a god damn "Chinese Room" (It's a thing in philosophy, look it up)