The Impact of Generative AI Content on Social Media

Generative AI content on social media is a topic of debate. The author, Andrew Hutchinson, expresses skepticism about the value of current generative AI offerings in a social media context. He points out that suggestions provided by AI, such as writing prompts or image generation prompts, often appear untargeted and not personalized to user interests. Additionally, he questions the social aspect of these tools on platforms meant for human connection and shared experiences.

The author criticizes Meta's AI chatbot and image generation tools for several reasons:

• The search suggestions provided by the AI chatbot are not targeted or personalized, often being irrelevant to the user's interests.
• The author questions the necessity of these AI suggestions when users typically search with a specific intent.
• The AI-generated images, such as those from the 'Movie Mashup Challenge', can appear off-putting and obviously artificial.
• There is concern that the AI tools could facilitate engagement bait and scams, with the ease of generating and sharing fake images.

Concerns about AI-generated content and user engagement on social media platforms include:

• Engagement bait: AI-generated images are being used to fish for user engagement, often receiving thousands to millions of interactions despite being clearly fake.
• Digital literacy: Some users may not be digitally literate enough to distinguish between real and AI-generated content, leading to misguided interactions.
• Potential for scams: The ease of creating and sharing AI-generated content could potentially make it easier to facilitate scams.
• Questionable social value: The author questions whether these AI tools are truly 'social' and if they align with the original purpose of social platforms, which is to connect humans through shared experiences.

While acknowledging the technical achievements of AI in generating content, the author remains skeptical about finding a 'killer use case' for AI in social media apps. He suggests that outside of improved algorithms and possibly conversational search, the benefits of AI in social media have yet to outweigh the negatives. Despite this, he notes that platforms continue to adopt AI features, driven by the fear of missing out on a potentially transformative technology.