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Disappearing Acts

When primary content disappears, there is no longer a source of truth. There is no way to validate the citations or references to that content have come to the right conclusions. It used to be that we were concerned about being on the internet for ever but now if you care to remain visible, you have the opposite concern - that of disappearing without notice. Somehow, there came to be an expectation that content was forever if it was digital, that the rules that applied to content in pre-digital times no longer applied

The loss of content is not a new phenomenon. It’s endemic to human societies, marked as we are by an ephemerality that can be hard to contextualize from a distance. For every Shakespeare, hundreds of other playwrights lived, wrote, and died, and we remember neither their names nor their words. (There is also, of course, a Marlowe, for the girlies who know.) For every Dickens, uncountable penny dreadfuls on cheap newsprint didn’t withstand the test of decades. For every iconic cuneiform tablet bemoaning poor customer service, countless more have been destroyed over the millennia. 

The author's reference to AI generated content trash brings to mind the excesses of fast fashion and the how the surplus of clothes that have nowhere to go are washing up on the shores of Ghana. The two are thematically alike. A book written in the 18th century is comparable to a piece of vintage clothing that has been handed down several generations because it is timeless, beautiful, unique and expensive. It is a piece you want to have around forever if possible. The blouse picked up at the final sale discount rack at the end of season is akin to content produced by AI that is masquerading as the real thing. It is easy to get, cheap and completely forgettable. 

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