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Meta Wants More AI Bots on Facebook and Instagram

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Re: Meta Wants More AI Bots on Facebook and Instagram

#31

Post by panta »

friend_Fernando wrote: post #10

I think we actually need more bots discussing politics online. Specifically, we need echo chambers to be replaced by cacophony chambers. The only way to salvage democracy is to bring it back offline. Online, it was undermined by troll farms pulling the strings in favor of certain shady factions. It's time for the good guys to get their hands dirty and break the spell. Trolls cannot be silenced, but they can be offset…

I have been thinking about these lines for a long time. Humanity would be much better if we went back to pre-social network internet, populated by small human-moderated and vertical forums. We can and should destroy social networks, using their own tactics.

Re: Meta Wants More AI Bots on Facebook and Instagram

#32

Post by vasco »

alex1138 wrote: post #11

Hey here's a novel idea Have social media websites be reverse chronological posts by friends/pages you follow instead of what AI thinks you're interested in (and yet somehow not explicitly following, yet you get it in your feed anyway)

They want more engagement.

It's like if you build a typewriter and give it to a few humans, they'll write on it a few times a week maybe, not that much. Sometimes a supermarket list or a letter to a friend. This is what I'd call "quality engagement". There's a person doing a valuable activity for themselves, where time using the thing isn't relevant.

Then you give the same typewriter to a monkey and every time the monkey finishes a page he gets a banana. He'll stay there all day every day. Lots of engagement and just gibberish on every page.

Advertisers are buying monkey engagement.

And platforms don't care so right now all the typewriters are made for a monkey hand to type all day every day, and you can no longer write your normal letters without feeling annoyed at why it got better for the monkey instead of leaving it alone for you.

Re: Meta Wants More AI Bots on Facebook and Instagram

#33

Post by alex1138 »

vasco wrote: post #32
alex1138 wrote: post #11

Hey here's a novel idea Have social media websites be reverse chronological posts by friends/pages you follow instead of what AI thinks you're interested in (and yet somehow not explicitly following, yet you get it in your feed anyway)

They want more engagement. It's like if you build a typewriter and give it to a few humans, they'll write on it a few times a week maybe, not that much. Sometimes a supermarket list or a letter to a friend. This is what I'd call "quality engagement". There's a person doing a valuable activity for themselves, where time using the thing isn't relevant. Then you give the same typewriter to a monkey and every time the mo…

Yeah, but replace "they" with "Zuckerberg" and "platforms" with "Facebook"

Re: Meta Wants More AI Bots on Facebook and Instagram

#34

Post by red_admiral »

There's so much low quality human or non-AI bot content on FB already, plus every other timeline ad I see is a scam of some kind.

XKCD 810 comes to mind.

(I only use the site to stay in touch with some family of my parents' generation. Messenger/Whatsapp are still tools I use regularly.)

Re: Meta Wants More AI Bots on Facebook and Instagram

#35

Post by koutetsu »

wincy wrote: post #28
alex1138 wrote: post #11

Hey here's a novel idea Have social media websites be reverse chronological posts by friends/pages you follow instead of what AI thinks you're interested in (and yet somehow not explicitly following, yet you get it in your feed anyway)

I’ve developed this tic where anytime I’m on Facebook I aggressively block all the non sponsored suggested content in my timeline. I’ve blocked literally thousands of pages at this point. So the recommendations have gotten really weird, last week it thought maybe I was gay, then I started recommending Chinese state sponsored pages, now it’s recommending all 50 National Geographic pages. It’s always pages over a milli…

What a coincidence! I have done the exact same thing but on Instagram instead of Facebook and have had similar results to yours. Since both belong to Meta, we can safely assume that they use the same or very similar backends to serve ads.

I think it would be interesting to do a large scale experiment to see what can happen.

Re: Meta Wants More AI Bots on Facebook and Instagram

#36

Post by grecy »

simonw wrote: post #16

Back in April Meta were experimenting with bots that replied to forum posts that hadn't had any traction yet: https://x.com/korolova/status/1780450925028548821 Their "Meta AI" bot replied to a parent asking for advice on school programs and said: > I have a child who is also 2e and has been part of the NYC G&T program. We've had a positive experience with the citywide program, specifically with the program at The And…

For years social media sites have been able to hide behind the Chapter 120 defence, because they didn’t generate the content, so they’re not liable for it.

I wonder if their AI boys will open them up to lawsuits. If their not recommends a product or location that turns out to be dangerous, or medical advice that is harmful etc.

Re: Meta Wants More AI Bots on Facebook and Instagram

#37

Post by _Algernon_ »

alex1138 wrote: post #33
vasco wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They want more engagement. It's like if you build a typewriter and give it to a few humans, they'll write on it a few times a week maybe, not that much. Sometimes a supermarket list or a letter to a friend. This is what I'd call "quality engagement". There's a person doing a valuable activity for themselves, where time using the thing isn't relevant. Then you give the same typewriter to a monkey and every time the mo…

Yeah, but replace "they" with "Zuckerberg" and "platforms" with "Facebook"

It applies to much more than facebook though. For example, Tiktok, Youtube, Reddit, Instagram. Not sure why you want to single out Facebook.

Re: Meta Wants More AI Bots on Facebook and Instagram

#38

Post by concordDance »

friend_Fernando wrote: post #10

I think we actually need more bots discussing politics online. Specifically, we need echo chambers to be replaced by cacophony chambers. The only way to salvage democracy is to bring it back offline. Online, it was undermined by troll farms pulling the strings in favor of certain shady factions. It's time for the good guys to get their hands dirty and break the spell. Trolls cannot be silenced, but they can be offset…

> Online, it was undermined by troll farms pulling the strings in favor of certain shady factions.

No, online it was undermined by selection effects. Where those who care the most about something are most likely to engage or post, leading to endless streams of unrepresentative and extreme views.

Re: Meta Wants More AI Bots on Facebook and Instagram

#39

Post by _Algernon_ »

alex1138 wrote: post #11

Hey here's a novel idea Have social media websites be reverse chronological posts by friends/pages you follow instead of what AI thinks you're interested in (and yet somehow not explicitly following, yet you get it in your feed anyway)

But how will that create value for shareholders?
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