Look, I get that tech folk are super excited about generative AI, and the many possibilities of using smarter machine learning systems to facilitate expanded discovery from across the web.
I understand the enthusiasm, but do we really need AI assistants absolutely everywhere?
I mean, I opened up a PDF in Acrobat today and got hit with this notification:
Do we really need an AI assistant to search a file?
Social platforms are also latching onto the AI train wherever they can, prompting you to search, create, enhance, etc., all via their own AI options.
And more often than not, the question I have is “Why?”
Why, Grok, would I want you to “Enhance” my post by re-shaping it in order to give the impression that somebody with some other personality wrote it?
Like, isn’t social media supposed to be about giving everyone a voice, and enabling anybody to share their thoughts, opinions, and their work with the world?
Isn’t that what we want, to be able to see what people are passionate about, and connect with likeminded, like-interested people?
So how does reforming my posts into another voice enhance that?
One of the more recent AI updates, as noted by AdWeek, is the addition of new search prompts in various elements of social apps, which enable you to quickly conduct related searches, which are powered by AI tools.
In this example, Instagram is testing out expanded search options within the comments section, so you can quickly find more related content based on the AI-detected focus topic of the post. It’ll also provide you with links from across the web related to the subject.
Okay, sure, that’s something. But does it really add anything to the social media experience? Are these AI options, which are multiplying and mutating throughout every social app, actually improving the platforms, or is it just more stuff being slid in front of our weary eyes in our social media streams?
That’s not to say that AI isn’t useful, and there’s definitely a broad range of ways in which generative AI can be of benefit, in many applications.
But in a social media context, is it really helping? Are people really paying for X Premium just so they can use Grok?
I mean, the evidence suggests that they’re not, as X Premium is still struggling to gain any significant momentum. And that’s indicative of the broader query here, that while people are probably clicking on some of these AI tools, with Meta, for example, claiming that its Meta AI chatbot is now the most used AI chatbot in the world, at 700 million users. That seems like a lot, but are these people really getting valuable use out of these additional functions, and do the outputs of AI tools actually align with social media usage?
I maintain that they don’t, and that most of these tools are not additive at all, and are merely clogging social networks full of AI slop, while also providing more vectors for scammers to dupe people.
It just seems so odd to me that for years users have complained about bots and spam, and the negative impacts that each has had on the social media experience. But now, AI has enabled a re-framing of what “bots” means, and the platforms are re-pitching them as a positive, which we should all be excited about.
But should we? Are we?
AI bots are largely inaccurate, unreliable, and produce consistently weird images that are off-putting and artificial.
In certain applications, I’m all for the use of AI-powered processes to facilitate expanded productivity, and indeed, possibility beyond what’s been possible in the past. I’m just not convinced that their forced insertion into the social media realm is a net positive.
