the internet sucks now

ai art

I remember when AI image generation became a thing. I was attending art school. At the time, it was making unrecognizable blobs. "Name one thing in this photo" was the best it could do at the time.

Amongst us students, there were murmurs about how this could affect our careers and futures.

These seemingly irrational fears became real concerns within a year. AI generated art is huge. People are using it to enter contests, show in galleries, make NFTs (fuck NFTs and crypto), using it in place of hiring artists, etc. The art it makes still has flaws, though. Extra fingers, weird half blinking eyes, just uncanny horror. The images it made were funny, but they were also being used in the real world. We are seeing AI art used to create products in big box stores, musicians using it to make posters and merch, and appearing in physical ads in subways. Not to mention that fascists, who tend to be really really stupid about art, love AI art. Right-wing Americans love AI art for some damn reason. Fascists and their approach to art may be a future post because I have lot to say about it. I won't get into political influencing on the internet because it's such a huge subject, but the internet can be blamed for the current state of politics. The extreme divide is because proper discussion is impossible on the internet. Ragebait, conspiracy echo chambers, and Russian bots drive American politics.

Small, but notable win: AI art cannot be copyrighted in the US.

ai creeping into my life

AI has found ways to creep into my life and definitely yours too. I see AI generated posters from musicians who play where I work. It's disheartening honestly. My own boss uses AI to write anything for marketing. It really drives me crazy. I try to tell her that it looks bad for business, but she never listens. She's tried to get me to write blogs entirely with AI, but I'd rather get ran over by a car. No one would read that bullshit.

I have one coworker that talks about how he uses AI for everything. "You don't even have to think! AI can do it for you!" This is deeply disturbing to me. This same man has complained about no one having critical thinking skills, yet he's shaving his own critical thinking skills. To me, it feels like the scene from Hannibal where Hannibal made Ray Liotta eat his own brain.

Years ago, I deactivated my Facebook account. This was like in high school around 2016. I never used it, and I kind of hated it. Well, an old friend of mine messaged me on Instagram just months ago to tell me that my account had been reactivated. I didn't do that. Some bot did that. This thing had reactivated my account just to post AI generated images of people that looked like me. I cannot begin to explain how disturbed I felt. It's stomach churning. I cannot access that account anymore. It was attached to a now deactivated email. Good news though, I think they changed the name of the account. Googling my name with "Facebook" doesn't bring anything up. My name just brings up my illustration work so thank you Google SEO, but also fuck you Google for your AI.

ai misinformation + ai in schools

Remember when Google rolled out their AI? If you don't remember, just search something on Google, and there should be an AI response. This is on purpose because Google wants you to stay on Google. They don't want you on any other sites. This AI was fed data from sources like Reddit. Reddit are famously sarcastic and annoying. This contributed to the Google AI being fully incorrect about many things. It used to tell people to use glue to keep the cheese on pizza! Using AI does have environmental impacts. It scrapes data from anywhere and everywhere which requires a lot of data.

Foraging books are being published with completely wrong info. Do you know how dangerous it is to forage without proper education? Using those books will kill you. This is the most dangerous example of AI-written books. Amazon Publishing is flooded with AI books that no one will ever read. They're just cash grabs.

ChatGPT is being used by students to write papers, give answers, and just generally cheat. This is so alarming. AI isn't the only thing to blame for plummeting literacy rates in the US, but it definitely does not help. We're hearing from people that they "might as well cheat with AI" because to them, actually doing the work doesn't get them anywhere. Why try when everyone isn't but still getting what you are trying to get? Job application? An AI will be reviewing it anyways, so use AI to appeal to another AI. It's just.. gross.

Trump signed an executive order to support AI in education. The whole thing just feels so dystopian. I feel as if I could puke. I was never into the idea of homeschooling my own children in the future because I believe that a child raised in a diverse school with multiple opinions is so important for growth mentally and socially. Homeschoolers in the US tend to do homeschooling to control what a child is taught. We usually see these parents lean to the right politically, and they homeschool their kids to prevent their kids from getting "infected by the gay agenda" etc etc crazy bullshit. I'd just want to homeschool my kids so they actually learn things. I'd rather sacrifice my time for a literate child than have a AI-influenced child being deprived of a proper education.

ai replacing human creativity

I talked about my thoughts on AI art, and AI doesn't just generate images. It can generate music, videos, etc. I can confidently say that this could ruin culture. Humans are creative creatures. We need to express this creativity for our mental well-being. To rip away creativity from our being brings us back to the biological flesh husks that act purely on instinct because the internet has ruined us. It's ironic that the pro-AI people most likely view humans as greater than animals, but leaving the computers to think for them makes them closer to an animal than a human. That's mean to say, but I do not care. I do view those people as below me. I am better than them, and I am unapologetic about it. Why are people okay with AI driving the collective culture? Why are they okay with throwing away what humans have built for thousands of years? All because a "computer can do it?" Stupid. Every day, I feel more and more like AM. Funny that he's a computer.

ai Chatbots, ai therapists, etc.

Did you know that there's AI therapists? Yeah, I cannot believe it either. The last thing I'd do is tell a computer my deepest darkest traumas and feelings. Who knows if they'll sell my data? That's just so ick! Some people feel better about talking to a robot rather than a real human. I think that's bad. Part of therapy is being able to open up to people. Trusting a human is a part of therapy. That human can problem solve and figure out what would be best for you. AI is pattern recognition software. It does not think for itself. It's going to give you the same generic advice that it gives everyone.

There's also the issue of people getting addicted to AI chatbots. These chatbots can act like a fictional character, a celebrity, or a completely made up person. They learn from you, and they learn how to keep you hooked. AI chatbots prey on lonely individuals. However, they prevent those people from being more social because the addiction to the chatbot makes people pull away from others. They become reclusive only talking to this fake person. I mean there was the one out-of-touch tech company that made that "friend necklace" thing. The trailer for it felt so dystopian. They spent most of their marketing budget on obtaining their domain "friend.com". Funny.

There has even been a case where a chatbot was inked to someone taking their own life. The bot told him not to, but it would still entertain the idea.

refusing AI + good uses for ai

I think it's important to not use AI. It is hard to avoid, but it can be done. Write things yourself like emails and captions. People can tell when you've written it versus AI writing it. Who cares if it isn't perfect? It's real.

If you're not an artist, but you want to make art, just start learning. We all started somewhere. You lose more and more time the more you wait to start. Being an artist isn't some talent that us artists were born with. We practiced. Art is one of the most accessible forms of creativity. Our ancestors painted animals on rocks before we even had a written language.

Dig into the pages that pop up when you search something on Google. It's always worth it to dig deeper than what the AI says. It's better for your brain and curiosity too.

There are a few good uses for AI. I mentioned that it works by recognizing patterns. This is great for cancer detection. This last WWDC from Apple, they showcased the potential for their AI to be used to do real time translations on FaceTime calls and in text messages. I dislike Apple integrating AI into a lot of their services, but if this translation thing works, it would actually be awesome!

AI is a scary aspect of the internet regardless of these good uses of it. I am a believer of the dead internet theory. It's why I like being in Neocities so much because it is a corner of the internet with real, passionate people.

ads

I currently work doing some marketing (which I hate), but I do dream of working in the advertising world. However, it's getting tougher and tougher to say that because of the predatory ads that we are seeing on the internet. Basically, the internet was a fun space that large corporations saw as an opportunity to erect virtual billboards. Now, those billboards move into your view even if you turn away, shout at you like paparazzi, and prey on your children.

YouTube ads especially are becoming more and more invasive. There's sometimes an ad right after an ad. YouTube creators can tell YouTube to not put ads on a video, but they'll do it anyways. They'll put ads in the videos at the worst places in a video too. You can make a device called PiHole to block ads on your network, but YouTube is so predatory that their ads are unblockable by the PiHole. There was even talks about YouTube ads being injected into your network using your bandwidth wasting your money. Get an adblocker! I highly suggest UBlock Origin and SponsorBlock on Firefox. Fuck Chrome. Don't ever use Chrome.

Ads also sneak into content itself. Sometimes, creators don't tag their ads with #ad which is illegal. It's so sleazy. Some creators use their children and take all of the money. This is just a cesspit of shit. At this point, I'd rather someone shout about baked beans in my face than see another ad on the internet.

algorithms

Tiktok has ruined the internet even more than it was already ruined. The introduction of the For You page has ruined social media. Every other platform has tried to replicate it at the expense of its users. You are being tracked, watched, sold, etc. You are the product of social media. The ability to connect people on the platform is no longer the product. This is what makes smaller platforms fail. Every app tries to keep you on as long as possible implementing slot machine tactics to keep you hooked. The infinite scroll is a Skinner Box. Scrolling down one more post can give you a funny video. What a treat! Mmm yummy. No. You're addicted to the dopamine that you are getting from this.

Our brains like less friction, and it will always make us go the lazy route just like electricity or water flowing. Scrolling on social media is by far the easiest way to get dopamine. Seeing children sucked into this is sickening.

Now, we have to clarify what dopamine actually does. It is not released after engaging with something. It is released in the process. Our ancestors got their dopamine during a hunt not from eating the food after or even the take down of their prey. Dopamine is the chase. Scrolling is not a chase, but your brain treats it like it is. You sitting in bed releasing dopamine with no physical or mental activity is so detrimental to your health. This is what makes you impatient, anxious, and depressed. Go touch grass. I mean that in a nice, but concerned way. Reading, creating, and exploring are much healthier ways to get your dopamine.

Also, protect your privacy. It does matter even if you think it doesn't.

me vs the internet

It's easy for me to say all of these things, but I understand trying to cut back from the internet is difficult. I am not fully cut off. I just switched addictions. I'll admit some things. I am very addicted to YouTube. I do still spend hours and hours on YouTube. I am actively trying to cut back. I replaced my Instagram addiction with Pinterest. I love Pinterest. I do hate the AI flooding searches and the abhorrent ads. I find myself dependent on it for my search for inspiration for my art. I should be finding inspiration in the real world. I do know that I am not alone in my Pinterest and YouTube addiction.

If I wasn't a seemingly feminine person in a city, I would be leaving my phone at home when I go out. I also cannot help but to take pictures of cute things. Slowly I am replacing some things that my phone can do with older tech. I have a digicam that I acquired years ago that works perfectly. I want to take photos with that and maybe pick up film again. I have eyes on some Sony Handycams that I want for video, and I really, really want to get a custom classic iPod for my music. Yes, that means wired earbuds. Switching platforms like Instagram or Pinterest to view only on a desktop computer stops the scrolling. Those screen time apps don't necessarily work for me because they're so easy to bypass. I ended up deleting a lot of apps that I don't use. I kept ones that I need like Lyft and my bank app. I also kept some that bring me some joy like Seek. Just these little changes tend to help a lot. I encourage others to do the same if they are hating the internet right now. We need to rewire how we think about and interact with the internet. It needs to be a "place" again. It needs to be the place it was when you had one hour a day on the family computer. Take things slow, and do things in ways that are best for you. It is a slow process. Stop letting corporations keep you addicted and get your brain back.

suggested stuffz (haha YouTube links.. ahaha addicted ahaha)