AI Potato Chip Test & Why Dead Internet Theory is Trending
As AI news flows fast, taking us on an emotional roller coaster ride, we need a reminder about the agency we have (cue the Potato Chip Test). Also this week, the Dead Internet Theory...
In my Apple News app there is an Artificial Intelligence news section. I feel a slight wave of panic every time I open it up and consider what AI means to families today. I think about how little time I have to read so much important news, let alone process what often feels existential-crisis-level in tone.
But then I remember that AI is not a binary, there is no right or wrong answer, and there aren’t AI “experts.” In fact, a technology created to mimic humanity — regurgitating our everyday thoughts and actions — makes each and every one of us an AI expert in practice.
But until we act like we have agency over AI, humanity will definitely march toward uncertainty.
Cue: The AI Potato Chip Test
I’m a big fan of analogy in helping to provide context and bridge understanding; and food seems a very apt comparison when looking at our misguided hesitancy to discuss AI.
How many of us can detail how most packaged goods are manufactured? Or can list (or even pronounce!) the ingredients in many prepared foods? If asked whether a given food is healthy or not, how likely are you to answer with ease? (hint: *extremely* likely).
So why not start talking about AI in the same way?
At home, school, work, or even at the grocery store or post office, we should strike up conversations about AI. Starting to cultivate an opinion on the technology should be as simple as weighing in on the virtue of potato chips.
And that’s the ‘test.’ When you find yourself questioning your innate *right* to have an opinion about AI, or any technology innovation, ask yourself this:
How Parents Can Tackle Talking About Artificial Intelligence
If you are reading an article, instead of feeling overwhelmed with the content, see instead if you can extract a single question or thought from the piece and start to talk about it.
It may seem corny but it’s essential that we force ourselves to have an opinion, be bold in our ownership over individual ideas, and participate in addressing what is happening around us. The media aren’t experts, PhDs can’t agree on the finer points of any existential future threat, governments are bumbling; so we should get in there and have a say.
How we use AI is up to us, and how it affects our lives now and in the future is for each of us to start to addressing today.
Also in AI-Related News
The “Dead Internet Theory”
This is definitely one to put on your list to discuss with family, friends and colleagues. It began years ago as people noticed bot-created content starting to dominate the web — and that was before generative AI even started to kick in. If you’ve heard talk of “Shrimp Jesus” then you’ve been exposed to the Dead Internet Theory. It’s a serious reality to discuss, especially when you consider the financial ecosystem around garnering clicks from you, and how often we fall for the “everyone is talking about” trope. You can read more about the theory here. The bigger takeaway is to remind yourself, and kids, how much of the Internet is not just good-faith, user generated content but garbage.
Social Media is Dead, Long Live Social Media
Having worked at companies such as Netflix two decades ago, I’ll tell anyone who wants to listen: big tech is years and year ahead of us. And because what the future held with AI innovation was always known, the “great data collection” began eons ago. And one could argue, that’s really what social media was ever about. This is not to say we shouldn’t keep discussing the merits of social media and how to protect kids, but we should be equally focused on what’s on the horizon for our youngest generation. And interestingly, Mark Zuckerberg, said as much lately too. Hopefully when combined with the “Dead Internet Theory” you can see that nothing is quite what it seems and adjust your thoughts accordingly!
How to address? Well, we all talk and stay faithful to the Potato Chip Test!