I’m sure there’s a word for it. A noun that refers to the condition where our thinking changes to accommodate the way certain websites or apps operate, and how that thinking then carries over into other aspects of our lives that are outside the domain of those app and websites.
An example that comes to mind is how Tiktok made vertical default video, even in situations where the video isn’t going on Tiktok/Instagram, and landscape would make more sense.
Twitter is another obvious example. I’ve had arguments over text with people that I know personally, but the texts read like they’re trying to get likes and retweets from strangers on the internet.
Earlier this year, I went on a first date with someone, and afterwards, we had kind of a heated exchange via text. I took screenshots, uploaded it to ChatGPT, and essentially asked — am I the asshole?
Lots of people use ChatGPT (and the other LLMs too, but mostly ChatGPT) for that. And whether or not that’s useful is a topic for another day. Even though I’ve used it for that — and will probably do again in future — what I usually do in situations like that is send the screenshots to certain trusted friends and ask for their opinion. Because even if I’m the asshole in whatever case I’m trying to litigate — and those friends WILL tell me if I am — that act of sharing with my friends is an act of vulnerability. It’s a gesture of openness; an invitation to do the same. And that step will hopefully bring us closer as people.
What I’ve never encountered until today is someone sending me “the quiet part”. And by that I mean, someone sent me a screenshot of ChatGPT’s response to screenshots of my text messages with them in order to prove to me that I was in the wrong.
“It’s two against one,” is what the text seems to be saying. “Both me and my friend ChatGPT think you’re wrong.”
The merits of being right or wrong is also a topic for another day. Personally, I think if you’re hurt, and you believe that your friend or partner is the cause of your hurt, the weight of you expressing your hurt to them should be enough.
But I digress.
What that screenshot got me thinking is if in the future — like what we did with SEO in the world pre-ai search — we’ll start writing our e-mails and text messages not just for the people reading them, but for the LLMs that will be passing judgements on them later.
“What will ChatGPT say about this?” would be a common thing to ask before hitting send on a text message. Come to think of it, we’d just put the text through ChatGPT before sending it out. Which, thinking about it now, is a world we’re already kind of living in.