Us bloggers are perhaps better disposed to Artificial Intelligence than most because, thanks to safeguarding measures, the writing we do cannot be automated away easily by the LLMS.
Think about some of the more robust J’accuse articles. There is no way that a commercial LLM is going to produce text which takes a stern view on Carribean crime in post-war London. Even if you could trick Claude into writing about the topic it would insist on equivocating about racism throughout. So long as there is an appetite for extracurricular perspectives we shall be banking the wages of our sin.
This is not just a bonus for those of us who brave the wilderness. Anybody who writes with flair or humour is safe, for now, for the most part. Language models are generally not trained on opinion writing as they find it difficult to parse irony and sarcasm. I am yet to see them produce any good text based memes, something you can see for yourself by asking your preferred brand of LLM to produce a funny piece of writing for you. Here is what ChatGPT came up with when I asked it to produce a Tim Chapman Tweet:
Just had a genuinely lovely conversation with my Deliveroo rider about the importance of liberal institutions.
He was from Romania. I voted Remain.
Britain can still work.
Hmmm. And for balance, I’ve asked Claude to do Tom Leicester:
Nobody tells you moving to the countryside means learning the difference between four types of gravel. This is what the managerial class doesn’t understand. This is the real class divide. Peter, 41, knows his gravel.
One aspect of internet culture where Artificial Intelligence is having a more problematic impact is in visual memes. It would seem that much of the creativity of this artform is being sucked out by Artificial Intelligence. It is increasingly rare for people to make original memes à la the old ragecomics, or high quality edits (not just based films cut together with rap music) – increasingly what I see online has clearly been created using AI. I present an example below:
The big tell that this meme has been made with AI and not a human is how visually crowded it is. When LLMs learning how to create images they are instructed not to leave blank spaces anywhere. Every inch of that ‘meme’ has been covered with unnecessary fussy detail. The government official has two ‘State Partnership Program’ badges to avoid having a bare chest, or an empty baseball cap. The LLM has freelanced some random bullet points to make a poster on the wall. Behind the new happy couple there are books and wrinkled sheets. Have a look at this ancient ‘troll-science’ comic for by comparison:
Like frozen spring water on a hot summer day. If an LLM had created this meme it would be pointless details all over the restaurant building which serve no purpose, much like Chekhov’s loaded rifle on the stage. Tables are a particular giveaway. AI would never just have two plates of food but an awful trypophobia inducing smorgasbord of different steaming pots and bowls. Just look at this image from an old J’accuse.
And another, this time from Mr Chapman:
