A.I. Is the New Annoying Ad You Will See Everywhere ⇥ matduggan.com
Last week I awoke to Google deciding I hadn’t had enough AI shoved down my throat. With no warning they decided to take the previously $20/user/month Gemini add-on and make it “free” and on by default. If that wasn’t bad enough, they also decided to remove my ability as an admin to turn it off. Despite me hitting all the Off buttons I could find: […]
Users were still seeing giant Gemini chat windows, advertisements and harassment to try out Gemini.
I am not sure I agree with Duggan’s conclusion — that the “A.I. bubble is bursting” — but I share his derision for how aggressively these features are being promoted. Ever since software updates became distributed regularly as part of the SaaS business model, it has become the vendors’ priority to show how clever they are through callouts, balloons, dialogs, toasts, and other in-product advertising. I understand why vendors want users to know about new features. But these promotions are way too much and way too often. Respecting users has long been deprioritized in favour of whatever new thing leads to promotions and bonuses.