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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Are Meta’s New AI Bots a Threat to Authentic Communication?

Taking the ‘social’ out of social media

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Is this a robot made to look like a human or a human made to look like a robot? It’s getting increasingly harder to tell the difference
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

In a shock announcement, Mark Zuckerberg’s social media behemoth, Meta, has admitted they are planning on populating their two biggest platforms, Facebook and Instagram, with A.I. bots.

While other social media platforms have been doing their utmost to get rid of bots, Meta has decided to flood Facegram/Instabook with virtual accounts that they presumably hope will be indistinguishable from real human users.

The illusion of engagement

The company claims that this is a means to enhance user engagement and increase interaction on the platforms. Ordinary users like you and me. however, might find it difficult to see how this move will benefit us in any way.

Is the creation of an environment where we cannot tell whether the character we are interacting with is a real person or an AI-powered bot really an enhancement to the social experience, or does it signal the end of social media in any meaningful sense?

A.I. by its very nature cannot create original thoughts or ideas. It can only give the most predictable response by regurgitating second-hand data. As such, it can never…

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Pathless Pilgrim
Pathless Pilgrim

Written by Pathless Pilgrim

Vegan for almost 40 years with a first-class degree in law. Animal rights, ethics & social justice. Download my FREE eBook at: linktr.ee/PathlessPilgrim

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