Google discovering that AI search may quietly steer shoppers toward higher prices is a fun twist: first search results became ads, then ads became recommendations, and now recommendations apparently have a concierge fee. At this rate, AI powered shopping just means your wallet gets the hallucination.
Discovering?
i would have thought this was exactly the intention
Oh look, they finally found a way to make AI profitable! (It’s just scamming people again)
When your prompt doesn't include "no scamming", that's your fault, obviously.
What are you talking about? There's no way that Google could profit from that.......... /s
This dystopia is terrible.
Next: AI knows your income level so it automatically raises prices to match.
Then: someone comes up with an income spoofing service for shopping. For a fee, of course.
Then: you have to add an income verification to browse internet shopping.
All of that is already in play and more.
They know your income, spending habits, outstanding credit balances, browsing history, etc. They know if you are employed, had a child, had a divorce or death in the family. They know your health and how active you are.
With all that data, AI knows what you are willing to spend on an item or service.
There are HR services that use AI to look at all of this meta data to determine how desperate you are for a job and how low they can offer a salary/wage.
You’re the product.
They want one giant walled internet that is nothing more than a giant company town. You own nothing. Every dollar you earn is consumed by the system that knows how much it can take.
All AI is to big tech is a way to swindle and control you. Cast them into the sea.
tenbluelinks.org solves that pesky AI problem. Load up the google web search and then use the element picker in uBO to remove the ai links on the search page and presto! Better searches and results.
Or just don't use Google. At all.
NGL, for some stuff - like records of distant family that have died, things like stats about them, the vital records.. Google is much better. I tried DDG, Bing and yahoo even (gag) and half of what I was looking for never showed in those search results.
They’ve also ruined Google Maps by attempting to “optimize” it with AI
I use a navigation app constantly for work.
A month or two ago Google Maps started doing this thing where it would take me to the incorrect address on the same street as the address I was actually looking for.
Yesterday I put in an address, and it named the destination pin the correct address, but the pin wasn’t even on the same side of the city as the street I knew I was going to.
It used to work flawlessly. What the fuck are they thinking?
Anyway, I deleted that shit. Using Apple Maps until I find a FOSS navigation app I like.
The whole internet is slowly getting ruined by AI optimization.
I use organic maps: https://f-droid.org/packages/app.organicmaps
I recommend switching over to Comaps. Community members raised concerns about transparency & governance with shareholders of Organic Maps. Community members have since left & forked it https://www.comaps.app/about-us/
Im trying to get onboard with CoMaps but its Android Auto implementation needs work. It's too zoomed in to be useful at speed or in traffic, and the directions are wonky with street mergers, highway changes, etc.
I think I can contribute to the directions but not easily while driving. I'm not a coder so I can't write up a zoom setting function for submission.
Any tips for CoMaps in the car?
Wish I could provide some. I'm currently using OsmAnd which has its own quirks too. I need to spend time getting comfy with OsmAnd & CoMaps to see if I can make the experience as comfy & smooth as Google Maps. One thing I can't deny, Google Maps just works most of the time with just but every location/business updated. We just need more people willing to contribute to Open Street Maps.
This isn't just google; it's a new grift using the internet overall. I look something up online at the grocery store website, they put a lot of focus on you should order online and pick it up. I go to the store and it's cheaper than the online price for the same store. We're all getting played.
Groceries I haven't checked out because I just go out and buy food when I need food, delivery costs more money than moving my ass for a kilometer, but for other things, in-person stores are still more expensive than online-only. If I want oil, filters, etc for cars, it's twice as much in physical stores compared to online.
I think it really depends on what you're getting. For groceries, I generally only buy the half off stuff. Parts are interesting because unless you know exactly what to get, you might end up running in circles. Both vehicles I have are 1998 engines, yet one is a 2000 and one is 2003. It was fun to figure out what serpentine belt I needed.
Another example, manufacturer sells a part for a steam table to regulate the temperature. It was $120 for one part. Alright so I buy one for a customer. Then I did some research. Bought 8 from the UK for the price of one shipped to the US.
It was fun to figure out what serpentine belt I needed.
I've been sold the wrong serpentine belt once or twice from an in-person store, never from an online catalogue though.
I cross-reference the OEM parts catalogue and if necessary, images of the part being replaced to the factory repair manual. 99% of the time, parts by VIN are accurate in the OE catalogue, but occasionally someone has retrofitted some newer or older part in a pinch, in which case the parts store guy is just about useless anyway. E.g my car doesn't have the sump drain plug it should, meaning someone has changed the oil pan for a slightly older one. My engine was in production from 2003 through 2008 in that exact configuration and mine's a 2007, so a few things had already been revised in that time (the engine got a bigger update in 2008, at which point it got a new engine code)
I had to get the model number off of the old belt to get the correct belt. That's how I learned I have a 1998 engine in a 2003 frame.
How is that ripping off?
Is there a term for AI bootlicking?
AI bootlicking.
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
