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This week's comic, inspired by a study showing that AI summaries on top of search results are dramatically cutting traffic to websites.

#internet #technology #tech #journalism #disinformation #socialmedia #oligarchy

WEB'S END IN THE BEGINNING, THERE WERE WEBSITES. YOU VISITED THEM AND IT WAS FUN. Computer screen: Jill's Homepage LINKS AND STUMBLEUPON HELPED YOU FIND NEW ONES. Computer screen: Cheese Art GOOGLE ACTUALLY WORKED AND SENT YOU TO SITES BUILT WITH CARE BY REAL PEOPLE. Computer screen: Lovable Expert THEN CAME SOCIAL MEDIA, AND ITS ALGORITHMS DETERMINED WHAT YOU CLICKED. Computer screen: Facebook THEN AGGREGATOR SITES TOOK OFF. Computer screen: CRAP FROM AROUND THE WEB THEN SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANIES TRIED TO KEEP US FROM EVER LEAVING… AND WE DIDN'T. Woman on phone: SCROLL SCROLL SCROLL THEN AI BEGAN GENERATING SUMMARIES SO YOU DIDN'T NEED TO CLICK THROUGH TO A SITE ANYMORE. Computer screen: MONOPOSEARCH Summary SOON... THE AI CHATBOT BECOMES THE ONLY SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND REAL PUBLICATIONS DISAPPEAR. Woman speaking to phone: CHATBOT, WHAT IS A WEBSITE? UNTIL ONE DAY, PEOPLE WALK AWAY AND BUILD SOMETHING NEW. Woman has left devices on the ground and is walking into sunset Β© 2025 Jen Sorensen
#technology #tech #Socialmedia #Internet #journalism #disinformation #oligarchy
in reply to Jen Sorensen

Luke das maluca πŸ‡§πŸ‡·
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Luke das maluca πŸ‡§πŸ‡·
• •
Gotta rember most of those sites on the first results are shit. Most people weren't going to page two and clicking on small business or independent news sources before. I hope mostly spam and super seo optimized sites are the only ones losing visitors now
in reply to Jen Sorensen

ｑﾟο½₯\m\(οΌžΠ”οΌœοΌƒ)/m/ο½₯ﾟｑ
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ｑﾟο½₯\m\(οΌžΠ”οΌœοΌƒ)/m/ο½₯ﾟｑ
• •
I really miss that early Web 2.0 period, when the web was genuinely moving towards open data and interoperability according to standards not dictated by one company. Before the rot set in.
in reply to Jen Sorensen

RejZoR
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RejZoR
• •
I've not used Google search for around a decade now. It was the first privacy improving thing I cut out of my life. And seeing what dumb trash Google's Ai summaries output now, I have even less need for it.
in reply to Jen Sorensen

Kenneth
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Kenneth
• •
It’s good to have a message of hope. I β€˜think’ that will happen and hope it happens before too much damage has been done.
in reply to Jen Sorensen

Wulfyβ€”Speaker to the machines
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Wulfyβ€”Speaker to the machines
• •

Ever since the Internet manifesto was published
The oligarchs had a singular purpose
To destroy the internet while extracting maximum value.

#crapitalism

#crapitalism
in reply to Jen Sorensen

leobard
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leobard
• •

Yes!

Alternative ending: "...until one day, I realized I need to pay the content authors for their great websites and content, independent how I found them"

Which we can do today.

...Just sent you 10$. You are sooo right.

in reply to Jen Sorensen

Nyan Max
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Nyan Max
• •
hello. Sorry for that but I have taken the liberty of translate it to Spanish. I hope you don't mind.
the end of internet
in reply to Jen Sorensen

Clinton Anderson SwordForHire
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Clinton Anderson SwordForHire
• •

But... But... But.... If I don't use "AI" how will I ever demolish the environment while churning out mountains of garbage based on stolen content and forgetting how to actually do anything?!?!?!

"I used AI to....", is nothing more than, "Listen I'm not an asshole but....", for the 21st Century.

#FuckAI

#fuckai
in reply to Jen Sorensen

dogtrax
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dogtrax
• •
I hope that day in the last panel is sooner rather than later. Thanks for the comic.
in reply to Jen Sorensen

drbean
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drbean
• •
envisages reading AI summaries resulting in the death of the Internet. I'm not guilty of this, though out of the corner of my eye I can see google's AI overview has the answer to "input string sed" that the hits below only tease with intros like "Read ..", "Learn ..", The lesser sin I'm guilty of is scrolling through google hits to find the answer to my question, "Use a <<< here string" without having to visit sites, which may or may not have that answer.
in reply to Jen Sorensen

Dave Muth
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Dave Muth
• •

I'm trying to find MonopoSearch. I mostly use Kagi, but it only leads to dead-ends like Yahoo and Google.

You'd better get MonopoSearch.com and .edu so you can flip 'em.

in reply to Jen Sorensen

Craig Waterman
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Craig Waterman
• •
I think the culprit here is enshittification (Cory Doctorow) and not AI. AI is just the current tool being used towards that end.
in reply to Jen Sorensen

7heo
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7heo
• •

the last panel is unfortunately a wet dream. Abandoning tech as we know it would mean a return to the dark ages (we already, forever lost an immense amount of our pre-internet capabilities and knowledge, and our tech made our lives easier and cheaper in multiple non-negligible ways), and keeping it can only lead to a dystopian autocracy with "telescreens".

Corporations are legally persons since 2010, and can donate to politicians. Just wait until they can directly run for office.

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