Something I don’t think a lot of people recognize is the potential for some next-level control of the population AI delivers to the government. Humans are social creatures, and the people you associate with have a great impact on your perceptions and behaviors. The people around you establish norms and values, such that it is said that “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” This is why cults and far-right white supremacist groups foster community to bring in recruits and shape them to conformity with their mindset.
Now consider that in the context to realistic human chatbots, including virtual girlfriends. All those lonely, disaffected incels can be targeted by a friendly chatbot that reaches out and delivers the kindness, validation, and belonging that they are craving. The cult Children of God trained young female members to engage in “flirty fishing,” providing romance and sex to recruit men to the cult, fishing around 200,000 men.
Now consider this post in this context. The government is building the power to target its population on a mass scale through social media. OnlyFans models make money by delivering a fantasy parasocial relationship, and the same parasocial relationships can be fostered en masse for almost nothing. We’re already living in the disinformation age, where it’s become so difficult to separate fact from fiction that people tend to choose what they want to believe based on their existing biases and what they wish to be true. It’s about to get exponentially worse, and I don’t see how it can be stopped. Russia pioneered the “firehose of falsehoods” to control it’s population and AI now makes that look quaint. I never thought I’d become a Luddite, but the more the internet becomes corrupted the less interest I have in participating.
Network Television and print media were the old ways. You’d control what people perceive to be important through sitcom values and talk show hosts. AI is just the next generation, making it even more intimate and organic, but the end goal remains the same.
The bot armies in comment sections are here to make you think you’re part of a hive mind; that you’re one with the crowd, but in reality you’re being manipulated into conformity.
Instead of your favorite actor onscreen or talking head telling you what is “normal” to think and believe, a chat bot in your pocket or a comment section on your favorite social media is guiding you towards what’s “normal”, toward what’s the “correct” answer.
Something I don’t think a lot of people recognize is the potential for some next-level control of the population AI delivers to the government. Humans are social creatures, and the people you associate with have a great impact on your perceptions and behaviors. The people around you establish norms and values, such that it is said that “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” This is why cults and far-right white supremacist groups foster community to bring in recruits and shape them to conformity with their mindset.
Now consider that in the context to realistic human chatbots, including virtual girlfriends. All those lonely, disaffected incels can be targeted by a friendly chatbot that reaches out and delivers the kindness, validation, and belonging that they are craving. The cult Children of God trained young female members to engage in “flirty fishing,” providing romance and sex to recruit men to the cult, fishing around 200,000 men.
Now consider this post in this context. The government is building the power to target its population on a mass scale through social media. OnlyFans models make money by delivering a fantasy parasocial relationship, and the same parasocial relationships can be fostered en masse for almost nothing. We’re already living in the disinformation age, where it’s become so difficult to separate fact from fiction that people tend to choose what they want to believe based on their existing biases and what they wish to be true. It’s about to get exponentially worse, and I don’t see how it can be stopped. Russia pioneered the “firehose of falsehoods” to control it’s population and AI now makes that look quaint. I never thought I’d become a Luddite, but the more the internet becomes corrupted the less interest I have in participating.
^The real reason big business and governments are salivating over AI that no one is asking for
There are 3 Dimensions of Power
Network Television and print media were the old ways. You’d control what people perceive to be important through sitcom values and talk show hosts. AI is just the next generation, making it even more intimate and organic, but the end goal remains the same.
The bot armies in comment sections are here to make you think you’re part of a hive mind; that you’re one with the crowd, but in reality you’re being manipulated into conformity.
Instead of your favorite actor onscreen or talking head telling you what is “normal” to think and believe, a chat bot in your pocket or a comment section on your favorite social media is guiding you towards what’s “normal”, toward what’s the “correct” answer.