Ask HN: What's the long-term future of online human discussion?
2•SsgMshdPotatoes•1h ago
I'm just curious about the best takes on this: do you see any way in which human discussion forums like HN survive in the long term? How, and by the way, what would be a good measure of success (because there is a whole spectrum of AI influence: AI shaping beliefs of participants, users letting AI write exact posts/comments, users letting AI only reformat posts/comments, etc)?
Comments
9rx•58m ago
The same as the past? The medium is the message. AI doesn't change the medium.
SsgMshdPotatoes•44m ago
Maybe I could've worded it a bit better, the question is not whether forums such as HN will continue to exist, but whether/how it is possible to keep them "human", and also what appropriate definitions of that could be.
9rx•32m ago
Online discussion forums have never been "human". You can rightfully point out that in the past human operators were required to keep the software operational as an implementation detail, and that we may be reaching a point where they are no longer an implementation need, but it is just that: An implementation detail. An alternative implementation does not really change anything. The medium is the message.
SsgMshdPotatoes•25m ago
I guess the question body wasn't clear enough, because that's not what I meant. My bad if so - I just rephrased the part in parentheses to make it clearer.
9rx•21m ago
I do not find a lack of clarity, but rather a misunderstanding of the medium. Human discussion takes place where you find humans. Online discussion forums are not human, but rather software. The entire appeal is that it isn't "human". It is something else entirely. A change in how the "black box" is implemented under the hood does not alter the medium itself.
9rx•58m ago
SsgMshdPotatoes•44m ago
9rx•32m ago
SsgMshdPotatoes•25m ago
9rx•21m ago