Taylor’s Takes: AI is taking over the world, one interaction at a time
Things that are shared may be marvels of modern science and technology, but they lack any human sweat and emotion.
AI has ruined the internet forever.
Well, at least it has ruined the social media spaces we occupy and peruse.
I’m sure we all had varying degrees of reservations about the advent and integration of artificial intelligence into our everyday lives before it was ever implemented. And some of you may have even come around to using it on occasion. I’m steadfast in believing it’s a bad idea.
And it’s not that it’s going to take over the world. It will, of course. That was the inevitable trajectory of mankind, according to many a sci-fi flick.
AI is also taking over the day-to-day world. It’s ubiquitous and inescapable. And I’ve had it already.
As part of my job as an Executive Producer at the Howie Carr Radio Network, I scour social media, namely X, every day for sound cuts that we may want to use on the shows. Any time Elon Musk announces an upgrade to X’s Grok, my timeline is flooded with people posting the results of the AI slop they’ve made. Today’s standout was a realistic George Washington dressed in Liberace’s patriotic hot pants get-up he wore on The Dean Martin Show dancing to disco music.
It’s not that things like a ten-second clip of George Washington at a discotheque bother me. It’s that it takes no effort to create. There’s no talent behind it. It’s just the smashing together of two very different and random thoughts to create one piece of crap.
If you’re a millennial, you probably played The Sims on your home PC growing up. Remember when you discovered the cheat codes, and you were able to amass infinite wealth without actually playing the game the way it was intended? It ruined the game for you, right?
That’s what AI on social media feels like. Things that are shared may be marvels of modern science and technology, but they lack any human sweat and emotion. There’s no connection.
The other aspect of AI on social media, especially when experienced from the standpoint of someone aggregating newsworthy soundbites, is the sheer amount of very realistic videos that depict actual people saying or doing what could be newsworthy things. Some of these videos are extremely convincing and take a very keen and discerning eye to invalidate.
Thank goodness we have such a staff on board at the Howie Carr Radio Network that is able to detect AI fakery before it ever gets to air. But it’s getting tougher with each passing day, which is the rate at which AI is improving.
Then there are fake pop culture posts. These have been around since the dawn of time, yes. But I see them more frequently, and oftentimes with historical-looking pictures that were never taken in real life. And people fall for them and share them without even questioning their veracity.
I can’t tell you how many times people have sent me these stories about, say, Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin (I’m a bit of a Rat Pack enthusiast and people know it), and I have to tell them that those stories never happened. More often than not, they are churned out by an AI bot whose job is to fabricate these stories and grow a social media audience. Clicks equal dollars.
What’s worse is the reliance on artificial intelligence in everyday circumstances. I know people who plan their grocery shopping, kids’ social schedules, dinner prep, and more with AI. They barely have to think of a thing for themselves.
I’ve been in mid-conversation with people who will stop and say, “Let’s ask ChatGPT .” No! WE were talking about this and using OUR human intellect. You can think without AI.
I was asked several weeks ago if I had integrated AI into my job. Absolutely not! Why would I train a machine to do the ultra-specific job that I’ve worked hard to obtain and maintain? Would AI make my duties less stressful and easier to manage? Absolutely! But where’s the fun in that? In order to remain a useful employee, I have to make MYSELF useful. That means finding another task that is beneficial to the company with which to occupy my time. What am I going to do after I find that task? Train AI how to do that, as well?! No, thanks. I’m all set with slowly writing myself out of a job.
But you go ahead, rest of the world. Continue connecting yourselves to the faceless machines that pretend to be your friends. And laugh at my luddite ways as you sit back in your easy chairs, pretending to work.
You won’t be laughing when AI has completely replaced your job, you have no experience in human interaction anymore, and you find the internet to be a wasteland of soulless content because everything is now posted and managed by a robot.
I’ll still be working like a fool, having meaningful and human conversations, and enjoying the fruits of my own labor, however meager they may be. It was my hard work that produced them. And if nothing else, there’s honor in that.
