The social media landscape is changing.

Unfortunately, it is possible that the changes will not be positive.

Two really intelligent technologists have recently written about the dangers that artificial intelligence poses to social media. Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist and well-known author of books, is an expert in this field. Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google. The pair explained how AI, a tool that could be used by foreign dictators to spread misinformation and control Twitter users or even manipulate them on Facebook.

Recenty, I discussed a related topic and expressed real concerns that AI bots could create confusion on social networks.

They also mention something else that is equally troubling.

“[We see] the widespread, skillful manipulation of people by AI super-influencers — including personalized influencers — rather than by ordinary people and “dumb” bots,” they wrote. What do you think they were saying? The “super-influencer” could be an avatar that looks like a real person, a bot that is automating social media messaging, or some combination of those things.

A machine learning influencer could know our preferences and interests, and exploit them as they please. It is a widely known slot machine comparison that the authors use. The central theme of the The Social DilemmaNetflix has a documentary from several years back. It is believed that slot machines at casinos, such as TikTok are programmed so as to keep the user hooked. The AI could pretend to be human, or even post automated messages that would make you pay more attention.

Haidt’s and Schmidt’s warning sounds to me like the social media apocalypse. It’s like the strongest and most convincing influencer created. The only difference is that it was designed specifically to influence YOU more than any other person.

It’s crazy that, in this future reality that is here already, we may not be able to tell that an influencer was a robot or the message had been automated. We might also not be aware if a human creator uses AI in order to produce content.

Recently, I mentioned how a social media avatar called Lia looks almost real in some of “her” photos. On Twitter, when Lia posts, there are invariably a few comments from people who want to date her or interact in some way, not realizing the Twitter “user” is an AI robot (even though they clearly identify the bot). It’s possible you have seen AI-generated images or avatars many times before and thought they were real. It’s possible that you have been affected by bots.

How do we know some of the “influencers” currently posting on Instagram and TikTok are humans? Truth is. maybe we don’t want to know.

The social media world is an illusion. Real influencers do not post pictures of them taking out their garbage or toasting. Maybe you’ve seen some of those behind-the-scenes photos of influencers showing how they …read more

Source:: Social Media Explorer

Author: Aaron