An exercise in exaggeration. Is something wrong on the internet? No. It is just that the whole ad industry must be regulated as heavily as alcohol, drugs, prostitution are being regulated.

It is a good read, "Something is wrong on the internet", an article by James Bridle on Medium.

It says: 21 minute read. That depends on your English skills and reading skills ;) Much more if you will watch linked videos.

It is definitely good for those who want to whine about anything and everything. They will find satisfaction in looking at evidence of bad things happening.

But in case somebody wants to do something about it, it produced a few thoughts of mine.  I'm not going to prove anything in this post. This is just an expression of my opinion.

One of the big phenomenon causing the problem described is ad industry as it exists today. This (child abuse) is not the only problem ad industry is causing. James mentions more in the article.

I'm talking about the whole ad industry, not just the bad part. I'm not saying ad industry is evil. But I'm sure it must be regulated on the same level as alcohol, drugs, prostitution are. Or should be, depending on the country.

Is alcohol evil? No, but it is proven that it can produce very bad consequences. Should we stop (producing, selling, consuming, etc.) alcohol? Some think we should, some must, but realistically: it cannot be done. Therefore, we regulate relatively heavily.

As I said, I don't want to go into details, but on general level the analogy is true for me. Should we close the Internet or Google? No, it cannot be done. Should we have police departments addressing ad crimes and organisations ensuring ad rules are followed? Yes, I believe so.

Ad industry must be regulated as heavily as alcohol, drugs, prostitution are being regulated.

When I think of ad industry + children James is addressing in his article, I believe this combination has to be treated as a criminal offence. Not just moral issue or mild overstepping the ad law deserving a fine, no, a criminal offence. Same as child pornography. Producing with an intent, selling to, giving it to children, etc. Whoever responsible: producers of what James described in the article, Google, parents, peers, just a stranger from the Internet.

Child ads must be treated as criminal offence.

Obviously, I use exaggeration as a tool to show the point. But please think about the two sentences in bold.

Now to another phenomenon of what's behind the worrying picture James drew.

Automation and AI.

Another analogy. We all and the living world around us are products of automation. Think of the DNA mechanisms of reproduction. Just not too deeply please for now :)

I'm saying that what's happening in the virtual world does not seem totally new to me. Including the consequences we tend to perceive as negative like plagues, viruses, eating the weaker in general. Yes, it is not nice. It is a fact of life.

Now, put those consequence phenomena names into quotes or invent new fancy e-, i-words or totally new terms to name the new virtual ones, whatever. We have to identify the threats in order to fight them one by one if we want to survive. Not just worry about them.

We are rational beings, we have scientific method, we will figure it out. We will survive, live, prosper. Choose the level of optimism depending on your own philosophical constitution ;)

PS I tend to make copies of some of the material I reference, the Internet is a changing beast. Try to check this if the first link is dead.