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4chan users manipulate AI tools to unleash torrent of racist images

arstechnica.com

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Re: 4chan users manipulate AI tools to unleash torrent of racist images

#31

Post by richbell »

dragonwriter wrote: post #20
chmod775 wrote: post #13

In today's news: 4chan users who spam racist garbage, not because they are racist, but because they want to create chaos and are fishing for a reaction, get a reaction. This is like writing newspaper articles about toilet graffiti. You're making the artist's day.

> 4chan users who spam racist garbage, not because they are racist, but because they want to create chaos and are fishing for a reaction, get a reaction. No one spams racist garbage despite not being racists because they want to create chaos and are fishing for a reaction. Now, its true, that people who are racist and also attention seekers might be motivated more by the latter than the former in doing that, but that…

> No one spams racist garbage despite not being racists because they want to create chaos and are fishing for a reaction.

Sure they do: they're called "trolls". That's not to imply that no 4chan users are racist, but the claim that "no one" would do it without being racist is absurd.

Counter Arguments has a fantastic video about this.

https://youtu.be/unnh0kPbLi8

Re: 4chan users manipulate AI tools to unleash torrent of racist images

#32

Post by brucethemoose2 »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #5
mouse_ wrote: post #2

gijames1225 said: I'm a little curious as to why this is even an article. It's inevitable and has no bearing on 99.99999% of people. I get that it's low hanging fruit from a reporting / research perspective (sort of like the 'Twitter users blah blah blah' articles), but outside of the 'publish or die' mindset of churning out content this is pointless and continues to make 4-chan and these people seem much more releva…

I need a reminder from time to time that the internet has become a dumpster fire. These add fuel to the internal debate I am always having as to whether we ought to just toss the whole stinking thing away and go back to a world dominated by radio [1]. [1] (Not that I have of course any means to do that ... but I can drop out I suppose.)

> I need a reminder from time to time that the internet has become a dumpster fire

The internet was always a dumpster fire. 4chan is old, toxic forums are even older. That is part of the package.

What made it cool was the freeness and gems, and the little adequately moderated niche communities. I would argue the bigger problem is that the internet became siloed, bland, soullessly moderated by corporations who don't care, and excessively spammy.

Re: 4chan users manipulate AI tools to unleash torrent of racist images

#33

Post by chmod775 »

krapp wrote: post #26
chmod775 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or that's what they want you to believe - because obviously that's more lolz. Though maybe there's some that actually are, because of: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1012082 Ask yourself why an actual racist without any intention to cause chaos would engage in this behavior though. It's clearly intended to offend and get a reaction - that's the main goal. Whether it's done by actual racists is secondary.

Also known as Popehat's Law of Goats: He who fucks goats, either as part of a performance or to troll those he deems has overly delicate sensibilities is simply, a goatfucker. If your goal is to be seen as a racist, and to provoke a response from people who are offended by racists, and you do all of the things that racists do to that end, spending time on racist forums spreading racist memes and hate speech, then the…

Meh, be racist in an on-the-nose and obviously dumb way, like 4chan is doing here (whether intentional or not), and you get the opposite result: You make racists look bad.

In the end some will think it's satire, some won't but will still laugh because it's stupid, and some will get mad.

Actual racists lost, 4chan got a laugh, and outrage culture got played again.

Re: 4chan users manipulate AI tools to unleash torrent of racist images

#34

Post by shitlord »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #5
mouse_ wrote: post #2

gijames1225 said: I'm a little curious as to why this is even an article. It's inevitable and has no bearing on 99.99999% of people. I get that it's low hanging fruit from a reporting / research perspective (sort of like the 'Twitter users blah blah blah' articles), but outside of the 'publish or die' mindset of churning out content this is pointless and continues to make 4-chan and these people seem much more releva…

I need a reminder from time to time that the internet has become a dumpster fire. These add fuel to the internal debate I am always having as to whether we ought to just toss the whole stinking thing away and go back to a world dominated by radio [1]. [1] (Not that I have of course any means to do that ... but I can drop out I suppose.)

Most of the internet is not like this, and most people using AI aren't using it in this way. Sensationalism sells, and media outlets have a financial interest in blowing these things out of proportion to get readers riled up.

Re: 4chan users manipulate AI tools to unleash torrent of racist images

#35

Post by richbell »

bitwize wrote: post #9
mouse_ wrote: post #2

gijames1225 said: I'm a little curious as to why this is even an article. It's inevitable and has no bearing on 99.99999% of people. I get that it's low hanging fruit from a reporting / research perspective (sort of like the 'Twitter users blah blah blah' articles), but outside of the 'publish or die' mindset of churning out content this is pointless and continues to make 4-chan and these people seem much more releva…

Racist content has a bearing on the marginalized races. Ignoring the casual hate on 4chan brought us GamerGate and Trump.

People losing trust in and feeling ignored by politicians is what brought us Trump. Some people voted for him because they liked that he wasn't a typical "politician", other people voted for him out of protest.

Re: 4chan users manipulate AI tools to unleash torrent of racist images

#36

Post by richbell »

bitwize wrote: post #10
JKCalhoun wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I need a reminder from time to time that the internet has become a dumpster fire. These add fuel to the internal debate I am always having as to whether we ought to just toss the whole stinking thing away and go back to a world dominated by radio [1]. [1] (Not that I have of course any means to do that ... but I can drop out I suppose.)

What we need to do is build a progressive political orientation into all layers of the network, from site content moderation to actual packet routing. To quote Drew Devault, "no Nazis" is a better policy than "no politics".

> To quote Drew Devault, "no Nazis" is a better policy than "no politics".

I have a lot of respect for Drew, but I can't take absolutist opinions like this seriously from someone who reputedly blocks people over any minor disagreement or perceived sleight.

Regardless, "No Nazis" is a great policy until someone decides they don't like you and labels you as one. The most prevailing anti-Ukraine sentiment is based on the claim that they are Nazis.

Re: 4chan users manipulate AI tools to unleash torrent of racist images

#37

Post by nmarinov »

chmod775 wrote: post #33
krapp wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also known as Popehat's Law of Goats: He who fucks goats, either as part of a performance or to troll those he deems has overly delicate sensibilities is simply, a goatfucker. If your goal is to be seen as a racist, and to provoke a response from people who are offended by racists, and you do all of the things that racists do to that end, spending time on racist forums spreading racist memes and hate speech, then the…

Meh, be racist in an on-the-nose and obviously dumb way, like 4chan is doing here (whether intentional or not), and you get the opposite result: You make racists look bad. In the end some will think it's satire, some won't but will still laugh because it's stupid, and some will get mad. Actual racists lost, 4chan got a laugh, and outrage culture got played again.

>you get the opposite result: You make racists look bad.

In general I find myself agreeing with your comments in this thread but here I disagree.

It's tempting to find the overall societal benefit from those actions but I don't think there is one. Or it's much more subtle than this.

I also think that it's mainly done to create chaos and get a reaction and not so much to spread x opinions. But just randomly throwing shit into the world *mostly* makes everyone get used to the smell of shit while they hate you for it. But in my experience it *usually* leads to more shit and not less shit.

Re: 4chan users manipulate AI tools to unleash torrent of racist images

#38

Post by lamontcg »

chmod775 wrote: post #33
krapp wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also known as Popehat's Law of Goats: He who fucks goats, either as part of a performance or to troll those he deems has overly delicate sensibilities is simply, a goatfucker. If your goal is to be seen as a racist, and to provoke a response from people who are offended by racists, and you do all of the things that racists do to that end, spending time on racist forums spreading racist memes and hate speech, then the…

Meh, be racist in an on-the-nose and obviously dumb way, like 4chan is doing here (whether intentional or not), and you get the opposite result: You make racists look bad. In the end some will think it's satire, some won't but will still laugh because it's stupid, and some will get mad. Actual racists lost, 4chan got a laugh, and outrage culture got played again.

> and you get the opposite result: You make racists look bad.

doubt it.

won't change the beliefs of anyone looking at it one way or another.

the people participating in it, though, after years of spewing out racist garbage risk without any self-reflection risk going down the spiral of "hey, this one actually makes a valid point".

and i suspect that most of them are just flat out racist and not just memeing for the lulz.

Re: 4chan users manipulate AI tools to unleash torrent of racist images

#39

Post by lamontcg »

chmod775 wrote: post #27
dragonwriter wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 4chan users who spam racist garbage, not because they are racist, but because they want to create chaos and are fishing for a reaction, get a reaction. No one spams racist garbage despite not being racists because they want to create chaos and are fishing for a reaction. Now, its true, that people who are racist and also attention seekers might be motivated more by the latter than the former in doing that, but that…

> No one spams racist garbage despite not being racists because they want to create chaos and are fishing for a reaction. That's a bold statement and clearly untrue. A boatload of people gets their kicks out of pretending to hold any number of offensive views just to get a rise out of people online. When I was a dumb 16 year old that was one of my favorite past times. Only works on people who don't believe anyone wou…

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