Personalization or Ensloppification?

When AI Rewrites the Web Just For You

Jon Ippolito

Professor of New Media
Director, Digital Curation graduate program

🐘 @jonippolito@digipres.club 🦋 @jonippolito.net 🐦/🧵 @jonippolito 🔗 linkedin.com/in/jonippolito

Click here or press Control/Alt + A for accessible version

What is AI's impact on the web?

Generative AI is changing the web in three stages:

Stage 1: AI augments human authors

Stage 2: AI competes with human authors

Stage 3: AI replaces human authors

Stage 1: AI Augments Human Authors

Dangers

  • "Filling in gaps" in human knowledge
  • Removing birds that look like JPEG artifacts
Ai Augmentation A

Stage 2: AI Competes with Human Author

Loss of provenance

Loss of human incentive

Stage 2

Unauthorized AI versions of artist websites

Ai Generated Art Site Micropolis Ai Generated Art Site Naimark Michael

Stage 2

AI appropriation of Connected Knowledge website

Ai Connected Knowledge Clone 1080 Connected Knowledge Participants

Original Connected Knowledge site

Stage 3: AI Replaces Human Author

websim_ai_malaysia

Websim.ai

Stage 2

perplexity-ceo-ai-advertising-influence-quote
perplexity-ceo-ai-advertising-influence-quote

Stage 2

(I Do Not Think It Means) What You Think It Means, 2026

Janet Cohen, Keith Frank, and Jon Ippolito

three.org/whatyouthinkitmeans

What You Think It Means illustration

What You Think It Means illustration

Stage 3: AI Replaces Human Author

Personalized Web Demo

LearnWithAI.org/personalized_web

Personalized Web Demo

Solutions

Links for today's workshop:

Back to title screen
← →

/