The Monster We've Created

More and more recently I have heard people finally share a sentiment that I have held for a while now; the world we live in kinda really fucking sucks dude. I truly, honestly, fear for the future with the way things are going. I'm not sure if I'm just being dramatic or not(though something tells me I'm not), but everything just looks so grim. We've created a monster, whether knowingly or not, and I don't think we can keep it on a leash this time. Not to sound like a Neo-Luddite of sorts, but I believe at least a moderately-sized portion of this monster can be attributed to how fast technology is advancing in the modern day. With the growth in A.I and social media platforms being so rapid, it's sickening to take a step back and look out at the effect it's having on the people, both online and in real life; though it's becoming more and more difficult to differentiate the two. 

I use social media platforms for mainly one reason: to keep up to date on bands I love. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't use them. In saying that, when I go onto these platforms, it kind of sets a dystopian tone for me. Right next to that post about a song I like, there is a post about an innocent Palestinian child being murdered with an accompanied video, and then the next post, as if the previous never happened, goes right back to bandom-banter; as if none of it really means anything, as if all of it is weighed the same. And, of course, there are the "nameless", "faceless" people online whose pants get tight at the thought that they can say whatever heinous string of words they want to, with virtually no consequences. I just don't understand, not that I really want to understand, what goes through the mind of those who will say or do anything for internet attention, because whether they admit it or not that's what it's all about. All it takes is one viral video, one viral post, and you can become the dead horse that everyone beats until the bloat sets in. With internet stardom comes internet status, with internet status comes real status, and with real status comes money. sponsorship deals with companies, brand deals, contracts with internet stars in the same boat as you, not because they necessarily like you or what you do, but because you're the new thing on the internet. Finally, with that money comes the opportunity to do whatever the hell you want. With great power, comes great fiscality. This may not be a new thing, but my god it's so hard to ignore. In media, in government, it's no longer a question of if you are qualified for the job, but if you're in a high enough tax bracket to do it. 

On another note, seriously, what is up with all these rich old people endorsing A.I slop? Even after everything I've brought up before this, I still think that A.I is one of the biggest problems on this long list of many. I'm someone who lives for music and art, and seeing how much power, and much money is being put into A.I that is built to "create" art and music in place of people is maddening beyond description. The whole point of the arts, in its many forms, is to be something that people make and consume with passion, human passion. What is the point of it all if one day we come to find ourselves ingesting regurgitated A.I gumbo in the place of human talent and expression? What if that day isn't as far away as we think? Moving away from the "artistic" side of A.I, the amount of bots that can be found online and on social media platforms is astounding to say the least. At any moment, you could be having an exchange with a robot in the internet skin of another person. Who knows how many accounts online are just robots talking with you simply because that is what they are programmed to do. Hell, who knows how many of those robots are just talking to other A.I, built for the same purpose they were.

This rant's getting a little long now so I think I'm finally gonna shut up (I'll probably write more later though who knows). I just wanted to get this out because I've been thinking about it a lot lately. There is more to this monster of ours than meets the eye, maybe more than we will ever know. All we can do is hope that it doesn't come back to bite us, though something tells me that is unlikely.