Smart Software Makes You Really, Really Intelligent
April 6, 2026
Another dinobaby post. No AI unless it is an image. This dinobaby is not Grandma Moses, just Grandpa Arnold.
With the potential “borrowing” of substantive content from books and the jawboning about running out of data, guess what I learned. The great AI revolution has converged on what I call lowest common denominator information sources. I have noticed that the quality of the outputs on my test queries I slam into ChatGPT, Google, Perplexity, etc. are increasingly useless. I admit that I have a small library of test queries mostly focused on the activities of some interesting crypto bros. But not only are the systems less able to provide helpful information than they were six months ago, the incidence of hallucination, misstatements, and the digital equivalent of “I don’t know. I don’t know” is more prevalent.
MBA artificial intelligence management students realizing that maybe dumb is now part of their ethos. Thanks, Venice.ai. I appreciate your not telling me that this image violates your terms of service. Pretty amazing based on my prior experience with you.
The possibly accurate article “AI Search Engines Cite Reddit, YouTube, and LinkedIn most: Study” may have a partial answer. I don’t think my experience is a complete answer about convergence to the equivalent of gentleman’s C, but the information caught my attention.
I noted this passage:
Reddit was the most-cited source across ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity, and AI Overviews. YouTube, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, and Forbes also ranked in the top five. Review platforms like Yelp and G2 appeared often in recommendation queries.
Yelp is unlikely to be of help to me when I look for information about Skolkovo symposia on the subject of reverse mergers. I cannot rely on Yelp to provide accurate information about Burger Girl Diner in Louisville, Kentucky.
Here’s another snippet from the cited write up:
The research showed which domains models rely on:
- ChatGPT favored Wikipedia, Reddit, and editorial sites like Forbes.
- Google leaned toward platforms like Facebook and Yelp.
- Perplexity emphasized Reddit, LinkedIn, and G2 for B2B queries.
If this information is accurate, each of the cited models evidences source bias. Not only do we have the cultural drifts identified by Dr. Timnit Gebru and the stochastic parrot crowd, we have these smart birds gobbling the calorie-depleted knowledge of people who may not know exactly of that which they write. In the case of YouTube, it would be that which they speak.
Several observations:
First, I think that many people accept information output by a computer system as accurate. Many of those people lack the drive and expertise to identify problematic output. I can spot drivel about Skolkovo instantly. Others may not nor have the desire to learn that the venerable institution is the Harvard Business School of Mother Russia. It may well be when it comes to crazy reverse merger financial analyses.
Second, the developers of smart software are into recursion. This is a nifty set of methods and rationalizations that lead to automated “low hanging fruit that provides the appearance of a complete meal.” Yes, appearance. Gobble up that AI output and kill your brain, not your liver like some modern industrial products. The system surfs on a curve that speeds query processing and results output. Why cook when you can deliver a DingDong and a Diet Pepsi by digital DoorDash?
Third, the leadership of these firms have drifted away from thinking about the smart software. Most of the companies’ top dogs focus on. Money. Why? The specter of the first Internet winter has returned. Cash is available but the returns are iffy. The data center craze seems to be wobbling as more efficient chips and algorithms mean that today’s advanced infrastructure is tomorrow’s eBay listing. Cutting costs, not banking revenue, occupies more of the leaderships’ time. In short, who has time to worry about regressing to the mean.
The gentleman’s C is now good enough seems to be the benchmark.
What does Reddit offer about Skolkovo? Not much. What does LinkedIn provide? An opportunity to shape a false face. What does Yelp provide? Zippo. What about Forbes? Isn’t that pay-to-play content now? And Facebook? There you go for rock solid information if you are really young or ready for the warehouse-for-the-soon-to-be unliving.
Maybe the data in this report of what cited the most by smart software is wring? Okay. No surprise there. But what if….?
Stephen E Arnold, April 6, 2026
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