Perhaps the most alarming use of artificial intelligence yet was recently rediscovered on Instagram. The nonhuman profiles were pulled from the platform after backlash.
The crisis was discussed in Reddit's r/mildlyinfuriating community, and commenters were outraged. The poster shared screenshots of "Liv" and "Brian," accounts that were denoted as "AI managed by Meta." The profiles had 2,709 followers between them.
Liv was described as a "proud Black queer momma of 2 & truth-teller." Brian was portrayed as "everybody's grandpa" and a "retired textile businessman who is always learning."
The accounts, which reportedly dated to 2023, numbered 28 in all, according to Mashable. They were deleted after gaining notoriety following a Financial Times story. Some users were unable to block them, NBC reported.
Redditors levied charges including appropriation — with one user coining the term "Black fAIce" and another going with "AIppropriation" — and worried about the future of humanity.
In response to someone who asked if augmenting social media with fake profiles defeated the point, a commenter responded: "It's more like a social theme park now. AI users waving at you in their dark parade of meaninglessness. Totally dystopian perversion of real human interaction."
"But like why? What's the use for this?" someone else asked.
"Eventually these bots will be anonymous (or less obvious) and will be able to convincingly push whatever agendas people with money/power want to push," one commenter said. "It could be for something as simple as getting you to use a specific skin care product, or as complex as getting you to vote in a certain way. This is just an early test of the AI system."
Citing an Imperva report that nonhumans make up nearly 50% of internet traffic and bad bots account for almost 33%, another user wrote: "Dead internet theory is real, and it's only gonna get worse. Time to start making a new, human only internet."
|
Do you think our power grid needs to be upgraded? Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. |
Definitely 👍 If these and other existential concerns aren't worrisome enough, there's the issue of pollution generated by AI, which requires massive amounts of energy to generate results, as well as high demand for water to cool the data centers driving the technology, as a Redditor pointed out.
The planet is suffering — not to mention the humans and animals living on it — and the seventh-largest corporation in the world is compounding the problem by deploying frivolous faux people to strengthen its hold on society. The irony was not lost on observers.
"We have to limit the power we use in our homes to help the environment," one commenter said. "Meanwhile meta can run a server farm the size of a small town 24/7 so they can maintain [their] AI Instagram pages.... like.... I f****** hate this place some times."
Another user wrote: "It should seriously be illegal for AI to pretend to be human. This is going to end so badly."
Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Cool Picks
