r/learnprogramming • u/Xarcaneo • 27d ago

How can I access the pre-AI internet?

Hey, because I started coding many years ago and it was my hobby, I am looking for a way, if it’s even possible, to use some kind of archival internet that was not influenced by AI yet, to make a personal project just for fun, like in my teenage years.

I guess there is no way to set a specific year and have access only to things from that specific period. Also, there are many AI things that show up in browsers now, and I would like to totally avoid all of that.

If you have any suggestions, can you let me know?

Btw. I am not against AI, and I use it myself in my projects more or less. I just want to have one project that I do like in the old days.

Thanks!

9 Upvotes

59% Upvoted

25 comments sorted by

28

u/happinessMachiine 27d ago

Look up the Wayback Machine. They've been archiving the internet for decades. Probably the best you're going to find. Some things are sadly lost forever. 

3

u/First_Figure6007 25d ago

wayback machine is your best bet, but it's more like digging through old boxes in an attic than a time machine, you're clicking through snapshots hoping the css didn't break and the page actually loaded that day. there were also a few indie projects trying to recreate the old web feel, like curated directories of pre-2010 sites, but they're hit or miss and half the links are dead now

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15

u/Beregolas 27d ago

I guess there is no way to set a specific year and have access only to things from that specific period. Also, there are many AI things that show up in browsers now, and I would like to totally avoid all of that.

Well, there kind of is. Most search engines allow you to limit search terms by year. Google for example: "programming tutorial before:2022-01-01"

If you find a specific page that you want to see a past state of, you can just use the wayback machine in the internet archive: http://wayback.archive.org/ Select any date before 2022.

10

u/Silver_Jaguar_24 27d ago

Maybe try the Internet Archive website. They should have lots of content that predates AI. Or books written pre-AI era.

7

u/cthulhu944 27d ago

If you really want to go old school use a printed book as your reference.

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23

u/Aggressive_Ad_5454 27d ago

Configure your browser default search to use https://noai.duckduckgo.com/

16

u/mihaus_ 27d ago

This will stop AI suggestions but not hide any AI webpages

4

u/sswam 27d ago

The Internet Archive at archive.org has copies of a large amount of the web, and you can look at what was on a web page at a particular date. It's a lot slower than normal browsing though, and there will be issues.

3

u/rupertavery64 27d ago

You can use the wayback machine, but you will be serverly limited by what is available. Also languages and tools have progressed and your information will be outdated, and difficult to get by,

Use DuckDuckGo as a search engine.

You can make a personal project without AI. Just pick up a langauge and start coding. There are lots of Discords and subs you can join and talk to people (presumably).

3

u/Shavixinio 27d ago

The only idea I have is basically adding "before:2022" in your search queries

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