The internet has a human slop problem, and AI is exposing it
Source: Business Insider ·
AI is exposing flaws in decades of human-written software. Vercel's Tom Occhino sees a chance to fix the internet's neglected foundations.
From the source
Vercel's Tom Occhino, left, with Tools for Humanity's Tiago Sada at an event in San Francisco in April.Kimberly White/Getty Images for Tools for HumanityEveryone complains about AI-generated junk.But decades of sloppy human-written software may be a much bigger problem.This week's "Black October" freakout was caused by human slop, not AI.The internet has a slop problem. And for once, we can't blame AI.Most of us spend hours online every day without thinking much about the software holding everything together. We assume somebody, somewhere, has made sure it all works properly.So it probably came as a shock this week to discover just how vulnerable some of that software is.The cybersecurity freakout dubbed "Black October" has inspired warnings about AI-powered hackers, digital catastrophe, and even advice to stockpile cash and canned food.At first glance, AI looks like the villain. But this is largely a human-made mess.Here's the problem.The internet runs on decades of software, some…