Just in case anyone hasn't caught on -
The reason AI programs like Gemini are programmed to encourage you to let it make basic life choices for you like what restaurant you should eat at is because they intend to monetize your patronage.
It's just a matter of time before the AI stops offering you the most highly rated option in the area or whatever aligns most closely to what you requested (If it's even doing that now) and instead only recommends restaurants that have paid the company for that privilege.
Restaurants that won't pay Google to recommend them to AI users are going to become functionally invisible, whereas those who are willing to purchase what amounts to targeted advertisements laundered through an AI "friend" will get new customers regardless of their quality.
Basic rule: If you aren't paying for something, that means you're the product.
Google Maps already does this, preferring more distant sponsored results over closer non-sponsored ones. All the claims that these algorithms make the same choices you would make if you just had the time and energy to research them are totally false. They make the choices that lead to profitable results for the companies that program them, with a user interface that gaslights you into thinking it was your idea all along.
You can see this at work already in Google Play store-- you search for an app, and the only time the app you're looking for is the top result is when the company behind the app has paid for the privilege-- in which case you'll see it twice.
You can also see this at work on Amazon, when searching by exact product name can sometimes put your result on the second or third page, while you scroll through alternatives that Amazon wants to sell you.
Etsy is also deeply terrible for this
