AI is already here. how do people feel about it?

“Well, I think right now, I mean, I see a big division over this AI center, you know, that they're wanting to build. And, you know, people jump on one side or the other and posting signs and, you know, like neighbors. One neighbor will put a sign up, we're for it. Other people put that. They're against it. And. And so that's just kind of a thing that I See, locally right now is people being pro, either for or against the AI Center. Yes.”

“One of the things that I've been thinking about a lot in just these past couple of days, as I've noticed this on some very specific topics, is social media, particularly Facebook, which is the most ubiquitous, you know, kind of social media in this area. It's what everyone uses. It's their primary source of information. One of the unfortunate things about Facebook these days is how much content is being generated not by human beings actively, but now with the type of content creation, AI software that's out there. What's happening is you're probably noticing that when you log on to Facebook, the first things on your feed are accounts that you don't follow for the most part. They are opinions that are not really aligned with yours, but are somehow really aggressively pointed in the direction that would anger you or frustrate you. So I'll give the example of I've never in my life cared about conspiracy theories about Anthony Fauci. But for some reason, every time I refresh Facebook, the first, like three of the first five posts are super, super conservative bot accounts pressing on conspiracy theories about Anthony Fauci. This is just the nature of social media now, unfortunately, because engagement, that generates advertising revenue for a lot of this.”

“I'm very curious to see, you know, you don't have to pay for your email account now. Which way is AI going to go? Is it going to go like the internet and email and where it really has become a free model? Like on your cell phone, when smartphones first came out, the companies were giving you phones to encourage you to sign up with them, and now you have to buy your phone pretty much in most cases. So it will be very interesting to see which way it goes.”

“This is something that I've talked to Caitlin about, Virginia, but I don't think I've talked to you about. We have a lot of local tattoo shops around here, and once upon a time, I followed their pages because they're artists I want to support, and maybe one day I might get a tattoo. I would want to do it around the area. But then I started noticing that they were using AI to promote their events, like Friday the 13th event or a St. Patty's Day event or a Christmas event. But to me, it was like, wait a minute. You draw for a living, but you're having AI draw this? Easy post this poster for you. Oh, like, why? I'm never getting a tattoo from anybody around this area.”