Admerica
Can we get a break?
A Blurb About Ads
To quote the engineer in Van Halen’s Unchained, “C’mon Dave. Gimme a break.”
Recently, OpenAI and Microsoft experimented with unsolicited text in applications. I write unsolicited in the “unasked-for” sense of the word. Many labeled the verbiage “ads.”
The general consensus is ads are tolerated in exchange for otherwise free access to some product or service, but ads are unwelcome in products or services for which one pays or has paid.
This makes sense in the time-honored tradition of “If you’re not paying for the product, then you are the product.”
But what if you are paying for the product?
ChatGPT subscribers reported ads - unrelated to the AI conversation - recently appeared at the bottom of said conversations. An OpenAI representative backpedaled hard and fast, but Reddit was already aware and on it.
Microsoft users reacted to a banner announcement in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) - a free utility used to administer and interact with Microsoft SQL Server (a free and paid platform).
Brent Ozar asked good questions. Before Brent’s post was published, Erin Stellato had already announced a new setting to address the matter. If you follow Brent, you know he writes in advance of publication. Occam says this not a dead horse use case.
This got me thinking, so I did what I do these days and I asked SuperGrok about the matter.
What Are Your Thoughts?
I’ve argued both sides in the past. Businesses exist to make money. </duh> Where’s the line between keeping the lights on and annoying users? I confess: I’ve become more cranky in my old(er) age. Like Grok, I’m less tolerant of invasive ads, and my definition of “invasive” has decidedly shifted as years have passed.
So, where do you draw the line these days? Hit reply—I’m genuinely curious (and yeah, a little cranky about it).
Here lies the danger with respect to reasoning in AI gone extensively towards “Cui bono?” with advertisements. Who benefits from these ads when AI reasoning is prompted by a user how to heal some health situation and receives a pharmaceutical ad when a cheap or easy natural remedy could be the answer? Obviously, there is a profit motive since LLM’s are part or the whole portfolios of large corporations answering to their shareholders on revenue generated along with growth. This is the next logical question, as was post Dot-com of its cycles of profitability and growth. There is an LLM that is health oriented from a small-mid sized business that hasn’t depended on ads thus far called, brightanswers.ai - Great article!