Humans are social creatures and have thus, in the modern age, gravitated to social media. An ever influential and powerful concept, social media has had a complex impact on our world.
It has connected people who would never have met otherwise, spread important information that isn’t shared on mainstream news outlets, and caused a massive shift toward globalization. However, it has also polarized people by letting them exist in echo chambers, facilitated criminal activity, and destroyed the mental health and self-esteem of many.
These problems, while being incredibly serious, are known. We are used to the threat that these issues pose to our society. They are human issues.
Sadly, a new concern is encroaching on social media, one that is less familiar and therefore more dangerous: Artificial intelligence.
The dangers of AI are very much recognized in regards to education but for some reason, they often go unstated or unrealized in the social media sphere.
People who would never use Chat GPT to write an email or essay are laughing at and using AI audios on TikTok. They are following AI influencers on Instagram and chatting with AI bots on Snapchat. AI is slowly but surely infiltrating every corner of the internet and the societal implications are vast.
Inauthenticity from humans has been killing social media for years but there is nothing more inauthentic than a bot. Unrealistic standards have long plagued these apps but will significantly worsen if we start looking up to programs that are designed to be perfect in every way.
Smaller influencers won’t have a chance for their audios or videos to blow up if they are going up against an AI that has been fed the most successful content in order to produce the most optimal product possible.
The whole point of social media is to gain an insight into the lives of those that you may not have normally, it is distinctly human. AI does not belong on social media, humans do.
Concerns like regarding AI are often dismissed as taking things too seriously or being anti-progress, but consider this: if one uses AI created audios, posts AI made videos, chats with AI bots, and follows AI accounts, where does one draw the line?
It may seem like humans have the upper hand compared to AI, that it’ll always be clear what’s real and what’s not. That is not the case. We can’t simply look for deformed hands in photos or a robotic tone in videos, AI is always evolving. It will only get stronger and more intelligent from here on out.
Even a couple of years ago, the prospect of AI surrounding us whenever we used social media would have been recognized for what it truly is, dystopian. Now, however, we have become so desensitized to this reality that it is considered normal.
Remember that AI is not your friend. At the end of the day, you are engaging with lines of code that have been taught to appear humanoid. AI will never compare to using social media in the way it was intended, to form connections with fellow human beings, devoid of borders and bias. To create something truly special, truly human: a bond.
