ChatGPT, not satisfied with being an app, wants to become your life's operating system

"You make widgets, and you sell them to people who want them at whatever price the market will bear. Everybody benefits. Then some new guy comes along, wanting to insert himself in between you and your customer. He says he can help both sides of the widget transaction - and in some ways, maybe he can. His offers are appealing, and he seems to have some skills you don't."

"But the internet age has basically been a series of middlemen stepping in the middle of that transaction. Think of Facebook, which was successful enough at drawing its users' eyeballs that newsrooms started crafting stories to please its preferences instead of readers. Think of Google, which became so dominant at gathering user attention that headlines today are written as much for its algorithms as for a human audience."

Middlemen often insert themselves between producers and consumers, capturing most gains and reducing direct value to creators. A widget example shows how an intermediary's appealing services and skills can divert most transaction gains into the middleman's pockets. The news industry shifted from a direct producer-reader relationship to one mediated by digital platforms. Facebook and Google drew user attention and algorithms, prompting newsrooms to optimize for platform preferences and search ranking rather than direct reader needs. These platforms built beloved experiences, amassed mindshare, and functioned as tollbooths for information. OpenAI announced ChatGPT Pulse to use chatbot inputs to target users with a media product.

Read at Nieman Lab