Let me start out with some incredible info. Four months ago I spent what I thought was a ridiculous amount of money on a computer: $5000. And this was supposed to be my "imagination station", my home AI supercomputer, or as I termed it here in my blog, my digital 3D printer. I’ve never had a piece of technology increase in value. That’s not how technology works – time moves on and things get better and they lose value to newer things. But today, a computer like mine is worth over $10,000. That’s just flat out crazy.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been enjoying everything I’ve done with this device. It’s definitely a great source of entertainment and the freedom to experiment and tweak in an unlimited fashion as opposed to having only a few free attempts per day on an online site has so much value. The original fascination has worn off and I’m starting to see how it can be used in more practical ways, so I try and look around online to see how others are using AI.
Funny and surreal videos are my favorite use of AI. Somewhat further down the scale are educational videos with an AI avatar. And furthest down the line are AI influencers that pretend to be real (this is really a thing – an OnlyFans account posting all AI content, and actually making money doing it). And what prompted this post and its title is a combination of the last two. I spent about 15 minutes (maybe about 3/4 of the video) watching an AI avatar demonstrate using an AI tool to create AI avatars promoting (real or fake) products. And my stomach turned.
Some time ago, I had asked the AI bots what they thought of me as a person based on my writing, and the primary takeaway from it was the word "authenticity". That was clearly the most important thing to me – that I be seen and recognized as authentic and that I expect the same in return. My values still hold true. I like AI videos when you know what you are watching is AI generated. I do not like to be fooled; I do not want to be fooled. But that possibility is growing exponentially day by day. And it seems that everyone is simply just fine with manipulation, deceit, and trickery.
I grudgingly give a pass to AI avatars in videos because anonymity can be very important to some, and for others, accessibility to a well-presented English dialog is necessary. There’s a tongue-in-cheek informational video I’d like to make and due to the topic, I’m hesitant to make it without making myself anonymous. The internet world is full of crazies and those crazies have real-life bodies that can inflict real-world harm.
But the idea of using fake people to pretend to use and enjoy a product is just a bridge too far. I’m not stupid. I know marketing is and has always been pretending to like a product, but those people got paid for their lies opinions. You could feel pity that they were tools of capitalism or that they had to stoop so low as to promote a certain brand. You could connect with them, even if it was on a antagonistic level. But an AI shill? Are you supposed to emotionally connect with someone something that doesn’t exist at all? The age-old term is "he/she sells it" meaning they are convincing and can create a connection with the audience. Can AI avatars "sell it", ever? And if they can, what does that say about us?
With people interacting less and less in-person, and more over text and online, the loss of a "third space", people preferring take-out over dine-in, government surveillance giving us fewer reasons to go out in public at all, how close is "The Matrix", except being one completely voluntary, where people give up their physical selves and give in to a completely artificial and generated life?
I think the movie was Total Recall, where the character was walking in a shopping area and video ads on the walls were addressing him by name for things he should be interested in. We’re like 90% of the way there. And the never-ending tech creep of everything having to be online, where you can’t own a device that isn’t controlled and managed by the maker is so depressing. Someday, my AI computer may be worth $100,000 simply because it can do things without being connected to the Internet. And maybe by then it will be banned because it can create unmoderated content.
I’m honestly glad I’m old. I know "the good old days" weren’t always good, and in same ways, we’ve made progress, but there’s a whole lot to not like about the present and the future.
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