From day one, an obvious AI concern has been deceiving people with fake images or videos. Up until today I hadn’t encountered any meaningful deception despite it feeling inevitable. But today… today it happened.
While scrolling Twatter I saw two AI clips from an account I follow – BetOnline_ag – without it being acknowledged that they’re AI:
Did I actually think Bryce Young punched a ref in the face? You know, for about a quarter of a second, I did. Go ahead and AI-deception-shame me, I’m used to getting shamed recently.
My problem isn’t the literal AI content, but the fact that they’re not presenting it as AI content; it’s the deception. When I clicked that Baker video, I was expecting a real video. When it turned out to be AI, it felt icky, it felt like they ‘got’ me despite there being no ‘they’.
Next they’ll start showing AI plays; “Tom Brady just took a snap for the Patriots!“, “Trevor Lawrence just kissed Jakobi Meyers after a touchdown!” (we’ve been watching Heated Rivalry).
BetOnline_AG has been UNFOLLOWED.
This is about as small-scale as the problem will be. It ultimately doesn’t matter if I think Bryce Young punched a ref in the face. But extrapolate it out to something more meaningful like political content and you quickly see the slippery slope we’re on.
The problem is even worse on Instagram (which I’ve largely stopped using (except to promote this blog)) and TikTok. And since both show you content made by literally anyone, you’re even more helpless. Aside from clicking I’m not interested in this post, I don’t know what else you do.
Obviously I’m not the first one to acknowledge this (though I may be the only one who believed that Bryce Young video). I know there are active attempts to have all AI content marked as exactly that. But that feels less and less enforceable as time goes on.
So that is my recommendation. Fight back by unfollowing. This is almost certainly futile, as I assume the problem will be infinitely worse in a few years and we’ll just learn to live with it. But while we’re still clinging to reality, save yourself the shame and embarrassment of falling for this.
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