More examples of the CANCER CULTURE (of lies and misinformation) Trump has instilled in our society....this can't be who we are as Americans. To heck with "tax policy" or ANY policy. This stuff should NEVER be given oxygen or support (explicit or implied) by a nominee and/or his surrogates. And those who promote, endorse or stay silent should not be trusted with power of any kind. IMHO
So, a little hopium. My parents are *ripe* for Trumpification - elderly white folks who loathed the Clintons. As small-business owners, they are generally opposed to policies they view as unearned Democrat handouts. (That's a debate for a different day)
But they have mixed-race grandchildren, and they will be damned if anyone will ever say anything bad about their grandbabies. 2 Harris voters, they.
I don’t think any image is going to change any minds at this point. The democrats need to keep up the pressure on republicans who are embarrassed by the lying.
As we've discovered in the Trump years democracy is a fragile construction, relying on respect for institutions and at minimum a shared reality. Trump and MAGA have put those under attack, AI propaganda is only making the attacks worse and more effective, and it will only get worse. At some point the few remaining guardrails will give way, and the insistent lure and attraction of authoritarianism will prevail. It may not happen during my remaining years, but sooner or later it will happen. Watching the beginning of the process puts us right in the middle of history making events, not a pleasant place to be, but it's inescapable.
Weaponized disinformation and propaganda by the right-wing is out-pacing our ability to defend against it. The only defense coming from so-called experts is to use the "truth sandwich". This seems like a woefully inadequate response. Coming much too late for an election in less than 30 days.
I'm afraid that the most gullible among us will decide this election.
The thing with AI is that right wing conmen and racists and creeps were locked out of getting good photoshops and art because artists are somehow not sociopaths and refuse to work for them.
you think my dumb-ass 80 yr old cracker relatives are going to figure this out. heck no... they've already got them running around believing vaccines are bad. you think u can convince them this little girl is an ai fake? or that the donald is the hulk underneath the high end leisure suit? the proverbial bridge is for sale, it's hot -- come n' get it! heck if they were younger, they'd probably have already gone off and shot up a bunch immigrants. we're just going to have to make some tough decision in the next few years -- and i'm not even going to list them out but whatever they are, it'll make climbing mt everest without oxygen bottles seem easy.
I get it about the scary propaganda. What I don’t get is why the picture of the child, even if it were real, actually serves their purpose. When I first saw it, I didn’t recognize it as AI, I just felt sad about the suffering. Since it seems to be raining, I assumed it was taken before anyone could get to these people, who were lucky enough to have their own boat. Now I see the crazy comments and it makes me realize if the original posters saw what I saw and decided to make up a story to serve their purposes. If I had been one of them, I would not have expected it to work. I certainly wouldn’t have expected “Trump in the water” to have worked. But I guess they know their audience better than I do.
Sadly, the job of these bad actors is so easy. Their voters look at the picture and say "oh this is terrible. Look how bad Democrats are". Then you ask them why does this prove Democrats are bad? and they say "hold on, I'll tell you in a minute. waiting on the next lie".
It's like when Rudy Guiliani could say, "that's not a mint, it's a usb drive" or whoever that other liar was who said "that's not camera equipment coming out of that van, those are illegal ballots".
It's just a giant cult and whatever the cult says, goes.
In the car today, I heard the morning (conservative) talk show host repeating these lies. Eric Trump apparently mentioned it. No proof, no data. We are dealing with a bunch of simpletons who apparently believe everything that their leaders tell them. This is so dangerous.
It feels as if a lot of these Trump cultists live off the dopamine rush from the outlandish claims, grievances, and outrages that are constantly being fed to them. They can't quit it and just live like normal people. They need Trump to make their lives feel meaningful and exciting. AI stories are just the latest way to deliver that dopamine rush.
But it's hard. Their response is something like "only a nerd would care, you stupid nerd."
Their racism is more like sociopathy, because they're not all white. It's like they want to be associated with racists because it's their way of being edgy.
They can be native Americans who love Nazis.
They can be gays who hate gays and Jews for immorality.
They're weird people who don't include themselves in their worldview.
They're insecure and authoritarian and seem to hate everyone except for the actually evil people.
What I don't understand is that most of these folks know they are being lied to by the right. And yet they accept it. If someone lies to me, it says to me that they think I'm a moron. I don't take it kindly. Intead, these MAGA sheep say "thank you sir, may I have another".
This is distrubingly becoming like reading 1984. My favorite book; I wish it wasn't as it is so disturbing and depressing, but holds lessons that more of us should heed today.
The growing prevalence of AI images of increasing sophistication only further prove what many of us have been saying for years: GET OFF SOCIAL MEDIA. Not "I only check it occasionally," not "Just so I can keep in touch with friends," get off it NOW. Future generations will look back on social media the same way we look back on the fact that the Romans made all their plumbing pipes out of toxic lead
Great piece. I work in Big Tech and honestly this is what scares me the most. AI has some fun and positive uses, ex: an extra layer of screening for radiologists reviewing images.
GenAI (this thing) is basically an abomination designed to put artists out of work so corporations can make images rapidly and for cheap.
The good news: each time you click “generate” it costs upwards of $10,000. This stuff is unsustainable from a business standpoint, but bad actors are all over it and none of the tech companies want to be the first to back off.
More examples of the CANCER CULTURE (of lies and misinformation) Trump has instilled in our society....this can't be who we are as Americans. To heck with "tax policy" or ANY policy. This stuff should NEVER be given oxygen or support (explicit or implied) by a nominee and/or his surrogates. And those who promote, endorse or stay silent should not be trusted with power of any kind. IMHO
So, a little hopium. My parents are *ripe* for Trumpification - elderly white folks who loathed the Clintons. As small-business owners, they are generally opposed to policies they view as unearned Democrat handouts. (That's a debate for a different day)
But they have mixed-race grandchildren, and they will be damned if anyone will ever say anything bad about their grandbabies. 2 Harris voters, they.
Typo: Ardent should be Arendt, Hannah Arendt. Thank you for the excellent column. Sarah should read you All the time.
I don’t think any image is going to change any minds at this point. The democrats need to keep up the pressure on republicans who are embarrassed by the lying.
As we've discovered in the Trump years democracy is a fragile construction, relying on respect for institutions and at minimum a shared reality. Trump and MAGA have put those under attack, AI propaganda is only making the attacks worse and more effective, and it will only get worse. At some point the few remaining guardrails will give way, and the insistent lure and attraction of authoritarianism will prevail. It may not happen during my remaining years, but sooner or later it will happen. Watching the beginning of the process puts us right in the middle of history making events, not a pleasant place to be, but it's inescapable.
Weaponized disinformation and propaganda by the right-wing is out-pacing our ability to defend against it. The only defense coming from so-called experts is to use the "truth sandwich". This seems like a woefully inadequate response. Coming much too late for an election in less than 30 days.
I'm afraid that the most gullible among us will decide this election.
We are pretty much doomed by frickin morons.
The thing with AI is that right wing conmen and racists and creeps were locked out of getting good photoshops and art because artists are somehow not sociopaths and refuse to work for them.
AI breaks that barrier.
you think my dumb-ass 80 yr old cracker relatives are going to figure this out. heck no... they've already got them running around believing vaccines are bad. you think u can convince them this little girl is an ai fake? or that the donald is the hulk underneath the high end leisure suit? the proverbial bridge is for sale, it's hot -- come n' get it! heck if they were younger, they'd probably have already gone off and shot up a bunch immigrants. we're just going to have to make some tough decision in the next few years -- and i'm not even going to list them out but whatever they are, it'll make climbing mt everest without oxygen bottles seem easy.
I get it about the scary propaganda. What I don’t get is why the picture of the child, even if it were real, actually serves their purpose. When I first saw it, I didn’t recognize it as AI, I just felt sad about the suffering. Since it seems to be raining, I assumed it was taken before anyone could get to these people, who were lucky enough to have their own boat. Now I see the crazy comments and it makes me realize if the original posters saw what I saw and decided to make up a story to serve their purposes. If I had been one of them, I would not have expected it to work. I certainly wouldn’t have expected “Trump in the water” to have worked. But I guess they know their audience better than I do.
Sadly, the job of these bad actors is so easy. Their voters look at the picture and say "oh this is terrible. Look how bad Democrats are". Then you ask them why does this prove Democrats are bad? and they say "hold on, I'll tell you in a minute. waiting on the next lie".
It's like when Rudy Guiliani could say, "that's not a mint, it's a usb drive" or whoever that other liar was who said "that's not camera equipment coming out of that van, those are illegal ballots".
It's just a giant cult and whatever the cult says, goes.
heck this whole website could probably be ai-generated....
Thanks Hanna, good points and very good examples.
In the car today, I heard the morning (conservative) talk show host repeating these lies. Eric Trump apparently mentioned it. No proof, no data. We are dealing with a bunch of simpletons who apparently believe everything that their leaders tell them. This is so dangerous.
They believe everything that fits within their priors. Don't forget, they booed Trump over vaccines.
It feels as if a lot of these Trump cultists live off the dopamine rush from the outlandish claims, grievances, and outrages that are constantly being fed to them. They can't quit it and just live like normal people. They need Trump to make their lives feel meaningful and exciting. AI stories are just the latest way to deliver that dopamine rush.
I know a bunch of right wing nuts.
I've spent years trying to understand them.
But it's hard. Their response is something like "only a nerd would care, you stupid nerd."
Their racism is more like sociopathy, because they're not all white. It's like they want to be associated with racists because it's their way of being edgy.
They can be native Americans who love Nazis.
They can be gays who hate gays and Jews for immorality.
They're weird people who don't include themselves in their worldview.
They're insecure and authoritarian and seem to hate everyone except for the actually evil people.
What I don't understand is that most of these folks know they are being lied to by the right. And yet they accept it. If someone lies to me, it says to me that they think I'm a moron. I don't take it kindly. Intead, these MAGA sheep say "thank you sir, may I have another".
This is distrubingly becoming like reading 1984. My favorite book; I wish it wasn't as it is so disturbing and depressing, but holds lessons that more of us should heed today.
My beloved younger sister says, "But he always tells the truth." That is my anguish.
The growing prevalence of AI images of increasing sophistication only further prove what many of us have been saying for years: GET OFF SOCIAL MEDIA. Not "I only check it occasionally," not "Just so I can keep in touch with friends," get off it NOW. Future generations will look back on social media the same way we look back on the fact that the Romans made all their plumbing pipes out of toxic lead
You can excuse the Romans for not knowing. We know.
Great piece. I work in Big Tech and honestly this is what scares me the most. AI has some fun and positive uses, ex: an extra layer of screening for radiologists reviewing images.
GenAI (this thing) is basically an abomination designed to put artists out of work so corporations can make images rapidly and for cheap.
The good news: each time you click “generate” it costs upwards of $10,000. This stuff is unsustainable from a business standpoint, but bad actors are all over it and none of the tech companies want to be the first to back off.