Comment on AI Could Be the Most Effective Tool for Dismantling Democracy Ever Invented

• ClamDrinker@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  I didn’t say AI would solve that, but I’ll re-iterate the point I’m making differently:

  1. Spreading awareness of how AI operates, what it does, what it doesn’t, what it’s good at, what it’s bad at, how it’s changing, (Such as knowing there are hundreds if not thousands of regularly used AI models out there, some owned by corporations, others open source, and even others somewhere in between), reduces misconceptions and makes people more skeptical when they see material that might have been AI generated or AI assisted being passed off as real. This is especially important to teach during transition periods such as now when AI material is still more easily distinguishable from real material.

  2. People creating a hostile environment where AI isn’t allowed to be discussed, analyzed, or used in ethical and good faith manners, make it more likely some people who desperately need to be aware of #1 stay ignorant. They will just see AI as a boogeyman, failing to realize that eg. AI slop isn’t the only type of material that AI can produce. This makes them more susceptible to seeing something made by AI and believing or misjudging the reality of the material.

  3. Corporations, and those without the incentive to use AI ethically, will not be bothered by #2, and will even rejoice people aren’t spending time on #1. It will make it easier for them to claw AI technology for themselves through legislation and walled gardens, and the less knowledge there is in the general population, the more easily it can be used to influence people. Propaganda works, and the propagandist is always looking for technology that allows them to reach more people, and ill informed people are easier to manipulate.

  4. And lastly, we must reward those that try to achieve #1 and avoid #2, while punishing those in #3. We must reward those that use the technology as ethically and responsibly as possible, as any prospect of completely ridding the world of AI are just futile at this point, and in between is a massive amount of pitfalls where #3 will gain the upper hand.

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  • petrol_sniff_king@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    #1 doesn’t have anything to do with liking it, though, that’s just… knowing what it is. I know what it is, and I dislike it; it’s really easy.

    It will make it easier for them to claw AI technology for themselves

    Okay, but why do we want it? What does it do for us? So what if only corporations have it: it sucks.

    Do you remember bitcoin and NFTs? Those didn’t pan out very well. They were solutions looking for problems. What is it about AI that I should be excited about?

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    • ClamDrinker@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      It can’t simultaneously be super easy and bad, yet also a massive propaganda tool. You can definitely dislike it for legitimate reasons though. I’m not trying to anger you or something, but if you know about #1, you should also know why it’s a good tool for misinformation. Or you might, as I proposed, be part of the group that incorrectly assumed they already know all about it and will be more likely to fall for AI propaganda in the future.

      eg. Trump posting pictures of him as the pope, with Gaza as a paradise, etc. These still have some AI tells, and Trump is a grifting moron with no morals or ethics, so even if it wasn’t AI you would still be skeptical. But one of these days someone like him that you don’t know ahead of time is going to make an image or a video that’s just plausible enough to spread virally. And it will be used to manufacture legitimacy for something horrible, as other propaganda has in the past.

      but why do we want it? What does it do for us?

      You yourself might not want it, and that’s totally fine.

      It’s a very helpful tool for creatives such as vfx artists and game developers, who are kind of masters of making things not real, seem real. The difference is, that they don’t want to lie or obfuscate what tools they use, but #2 gives them a huge incentive to do just that, not because they don’t want to disclose it, but because chronically overworked and underpaid people don’t also have time to deal with a hate mob on the side.

      If you don’t believe me that’s what they use it for, here’s a list of games on Steam with at least an 75% rating, 10000 reviews, and an AI disclosure.

      And that’s a self perpetuating cycle. People hide their AI usage to avoid hate -> making less people aware of the depths of what it can be used for, making them only think AI slop or other obviously AI generated material is all it can do -> which makes them biased towards any kind of AI usage because they think it’s easy to use well or just lazy to use -> in turn making people hide their AI usage more.

      By giving creatives the room to teach others about what AI helped them do, regardless of wanting to like or dislike it, such as through behind the scenes, artbooks, guides, etc. We increase the awareness in the general population about what it can actually do, and that it is being used. Just imagine a world where you never knew about the existence of VFX, or just thought it was used for explosions and nothing else.

      PS. Bitcoin is still around and decently big, I’m not a fan of that myself, but that’s just objective reality. NFTs have always been mostly good for scams. But really, these technologies have little to no bearing on the debate around AI, history is littered with technologies that didn’t end up panning out, but it’s the ones that do that cause shifts. AI is such a technology in my eyes.

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      • petrol_sniff_king@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        People hide their AI usage to avoid hate -> making less people aware of the depths of what it can be used for,

        This does not follow. People who despise AI still talk about what it’s capable of. In fact, they probably talk about it more.

        Actually, hate and anger spread throughout a population far more easily than genuine interest and novelty. I would think our distaste for it would actually be very helpful for propagating information about it.

        you should also know why it’s a good tool for misinformation.

        Okay, you’re right that it doesn’t suck in that specific way. But spiritually, it sucks very much.

        You’re not really talking about counter-propaganda, though, you’re just talking about people… giving up the fight about it? Because it’s annoying to some game devs? When does the action come?

        Keep in mind, any counter-propaganda strategy must involve its (AI’s) eventual dismantling or full, legal banishment because a democracy cannot survive a technology that wears people’s skin and drowns out other voices like this. Democracy cannot survive a Dead Internet.

        But really, these technologies have little to no bearing on the debate around AI,

        They do in the sense that all of them are driven by neophilia and big tent people horny for cash and power. Bitcoin would have been a paradigm shift had it been adopted by society, but it would have been a worse society. Because Bitcoin sucks.

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