Taylor Lorenz

People are making tens of thousands of dollars off fake podcasts. 👇🏻 From Bloomberg: Fake video podcast ads have become a full-blown business. Brands are hiring actors -- who they find through Fiverr or Backstage -- to pretend like they're on a podcast where they're hyping up a product. These actors are making up to $25K/month doing this UGC-style work. #tiktok #creator #contentcreator #tech #podcast #podcasts #influencer #creatoreconomy

MKBHD did not rizz up the Humane AI pin in his latest video review! Also I’m making weekly videos for The Washington Post spotlight channel on Snapchat which is why this video is edited for 6 year olds. Please follow and reshare! Also did anyone else watch Marques’ review?? Tbh I thought he was totally fair and is an excellent reviewer. #tech #technology #ai #humane #aipin #artificialintelligence #siliconvalley #creator #contentcreator #mkbhd #innovation #review #reviews

FACT CHECK: The bill that passed the House on Wednesday is an effective TikTok ban. Efforts to frame it otherwise are PR spin from lawmakers trying to confuse the public and mitigate backlash. If you don’t believe me, listen to the lawmakers who championed the bill in their own words! They say they backed this bill specifically because it is a ban. I debunked this all on The Washington Post. As journalists and content creators, let’s be careful not to buy into misleading PR narratives about this legislation and be honest about what it would accomplish: a ban of TikTok in the United States #tiktok #tiktokban #creator #contentcreator #news #tech #technews #technology #technologynews #politics #politicstiktok

I feel like this kid should never have to do homework again?! Also it does math! #tech #technology #ai #creator #creatoreconomy #success #artificialintelligence #siliconvalley #contentcreator #innovation #influencer

As if LinkedIn couldn’t get worse 😵‍💫 404 Media reports: Following AI-generated content farming on Facebook, where bizarre AI images of “shrimp Jesus,” hot flight attendants, elaborate wood carvings and sand sculptures, and children building extremely elaborate things out of trash have repeatedly gone megaviral and are getting fed to people via the platform’s recommendation algorithms. The same type of images are going viral on LinkedIn, which is nominally for work but has many bizarre corners and its own, often deranged types of engagement hacking. “This is an amazing work of craftsmanship, and Mark should see this,” a post featuring an AI-generated child standing next to a gigantic AI-generated gourd (or wood?) carving of Mark Zuckerberg reads. “Please, re share so this can get to Mark Zuckerberg.” The post has 1,139 reactions and had 133 comments before the creator turned them off. 404’s Jason Koebler writes: “I think the kid is so talented and has a great future,” one account wrote beside an image of an AI-generated child standing next to an elaborate AI-generated sculpture of the soccer player Ronaldo. “Don’t you agree he did his best bringing out Ronaldo sculpture from a tree.” The post has 2,192 reactions, 173 comments, and 84 reposts. About half of the comments note that the image is AI-generated, while about half of them say things like “I just saw his wood curving of Messi, He is talented. Just amazing.” “There is talent all over the world waiting to be discovered!” “BRILLIANT! His work needs to be protected and nurtured.” Another image of a child on a garlic motorcycle has comments that vary from “That is the cutest baby” to “This is an AI generated picture, post real things.” A kid standing in front of a plastic motorcycle has generated comments like “Amazingly special talent” and “I say a big amen to your prayers.” An incredibly elaborate and obviously fake sand sculpture with the caption “sand sculpture has to be one of the finest we’ve ever seen” has been reposted a handful of times over the last year, has racked up thousands of reactions, and has comments like “It’s certainly not sand” and “Wow, absolutely wonderful, marvelous; a skillfuly work of Art! one of the most incredible work’s of art I’ve ever seen with the ocean view!” AI generated images like this have clearly not taken hold in the same way they have on Facebook, where it is possible to find thousands of AI-generated images with huge engagement without even trying. The pushback from the community on LinkedIn is also more obvious. But the same types of images are being spread there in the exact same way they are being spread on Facebook. I messaged one account that repeatedly published AI-generated clickbait and asked them if they knew that the images were AI generated, and why they posted them: “Of course I know it’s an AI,” they said. Another account doing the same said “Hi Jason, Thanks for reaching out. Nice having you here. I’m amazed at what AI can do.” Like Meta, LinkedIn has a lot riding on the mass-market adoption and acceptance of AI. LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft, which has a huge partnership with OpenAI and has beefed up its own AI investments. LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman interviewed a “digital twin” of himself this week, and LinkedIn has integrated various tools that let people write posts using AI and respond to messages using AI. Autogenerated responses likely led to the exchange I had with one account posting AI images, which just said “Thank you” when I asked why they posted AI images. I responded with more questions and they said “What do you mean? I don’t know. Why?” I sent them another link to the image I was referring to, and then switched my own responses to LinkedIn’s autogenerated answers: “Do you like it” they said. “I love it” I responded. “Thank you so much” they responded. S*bscr*be to 404 media because they’re doing the best job of covering weird AI content farming! #tech #technology #ai #creator #success #creatoreconomy