AI is about to run writers out of work, as Google aims to conduct the biggest overhaul of the internet that we’ve seen in a long time.
Publications across the web are staring down the double barrel of a shotgun, with the overhaul threatening their existence, and media figures are not happy about it.
Sportswriters React As AI-Powered Google Search Will Wreck Online News Industry
AI’s surge in the modern world has spilled into every industry imaginable. Google is now fronting AI in all its operations, and users will soon have an entirely new search experience.
“At its Google I/O conference on Tuesday, Google unveiled an AI-powered overhaul of Search centered around a reimagined ‘intelligent search box’ — what the company describes as the biggest change to this entry point to the web since the search box debuted more than 25 years ago,” Tech Crunch’s Sarah Perez wrote.
“This shift means that ‘searching the web’ will increasingly be performed by AI agents rather than humans. Instead, people will focus more on acting on the information those agents provide instead of manually clicking links.”
Many media members and sportswriters were very upset about this upcoming overhaul.
“So the internet is basically dead then,” one writer tweeted. “What’s the point of websites now if they’re going to be impossible to find?”
“come the f**k on man,” said NFL writer Arif Hasan.
“Step 1: Google makes it so you don’t have to visit websites anymore,” CelticsBlog posted. “Step 2: my site can’t sell ads so it goes bankrupt… Step 3: Google can’t find good content anymore… Step 4: ????… Step 5: Profit! I guess?”
“Yeah it’s a wrap on written content with this,” Action Network’s Matt Moore wrote.
With online search entirely dependent on AI, web publications will suffer severely, as users won’t click or read articles. As such, websites won’t draw traffic to generate revenue.
“As far as I’m concerned, this is theft,” Boston Celtics writer John Karalis tweeted. “I’m not writing content just so Google’s AI can steal it and present it to users. People are asking Google where the closest pizza place is, and Google wants to rob the delivery driver and sell the pizzas themselves.”
“This might be really stupid and I admit I have no idea what I’m talking about. But this is clearly something users don’t want right?” sportswriter Steve Ceruti posted. “So, is there a better alternative to google that uses the old school search methods? And if not, why wouldn’t someone create that?”
AI is here to stay, and whether online publications can weather the storm remains to be seen.
