trevorslist
Generative AI processes are far from my favorite thing to talk about. As the author references her relative with otherwise decent internet literacy who simply can't comprehend AI images,
I too have my mother, far more immersed in the iron grip of her Facebook feed than I am to my generational equivalent Instagram. While she isn't predisposed to delusion or paranoia, the
responses some of my friends' parents have to the deluge of content they receive every day, my mom is a naturally trusting person who believes in the goodness of others. She struggles to
recognize images as wholly AI generated. This was true a couple years ago too, before they were even very good. When I go back west to visit her in Utah she has plenty to show me from
her feed, videos of products unreal in their convenience, seeds for beautiful, intricate flowers, pets sliding all over the floor. Of course, these videos are not grounded in reality, but
that's not the place her questions are coming from. Instead, she asks "how can we do this?", "aren't these cute?", "should I order this for us?". AI algorithms have targeted my mom as someone quick to
spend five dollars on a funny internet gadget, and by god will they capitalize on it. On her couch, surrounded by worthless pieces of plastic she ordered because she thought they were cute,
or useful, or whatever, I feel a creeping sense of dread. As these engines are trained on more and more images, gobbling up the fresh water I would hope nourishes the generation after me,
they only become better. More realistic. Refined to a point that even a younger, tech-literate person like myself struggles to notice at first glance -- or even after careful review.
After prolonged exposure to the internet, it becomes hard to tear yourself away. As Malik puts it, "You are immersed deeper and deeper into subjective worlds rather than objective reality."
What once felt like a comforting brain break for a few minutes between homework becomes the monster of addiction, like candy before dinner. The fantasy of the online experience has always been its
selling point. Anonymously representing yourself as whoever you want to be is a tempting apple for most people. The illusion of critical thinking inspired by witnessing the official White House
Twitter account posting AI videos of elected officials dunking on liberals craters any satisfaction that could be gained by reading a good book, when your mind is frayed enough.
From its earliest days, the internet has been social. Whether it was the creation of websites for showcasing research or chat rooms for casual conversation, people have desired to connect with
someone on the other side of the screen. It's devastating to think that we are getting further from this reality, that social media sites are populated by AI services with the skin of my friends,
trained on every word they've ever posted, robots vomiting into each other's mouths like mama birds all the way down. We are the willing participants in a grand social experiment. How far from each other
must we stray before we realize there is no tether? That we must work back to each other by will of our own, and not because the algorithm gently set it in front of us?