- 404 Media has been reporting on the prevalence of AI spam images like “Shrimp Jesus” for several months.
- The culmination of this is a kind of “zombie internet” where fake people post fake content.
- So why isn't Facebook trying to stop it? Here's my take.
404 Media has been pulling the strings of a big mystery: “What's going on with AI image spam on Facebook?” Over the past few months, they've seen various versions of AI humans sculpting with chainsaws, children showing off bicycles made from vegetables, old men blowing up birthday cakes, dying children and amputees. The kids and I reported on Shrimp Jesus, a personal favorite of mine.
Finally, Jason Koebler offers a theory on what this AI engagement bait spam means.
I don't think Facebook's AI spam should be viewed through the lens of a “dead internet.” This platform has become even worse than bots talking to bots. Bots talk to bots, bots talk to bots under human instructions, humans talk to humans, humans talk to bots, humans discuss fakes created by bots, humans talk to other people without their knowledge. It's a hijacked human account that doesn't talk. A human turned into a bot, a human worried that the other humans he's talking to are bots, his hybrid human-bot account, the end of shared reality, and at the center of it all, the most He is one of the worthy companies. This shit show is made possible because human executives and shareholders have too much money to do anything about the mass introduction of reality-destroying technology.
My view: The bizarre and sometimes disturbing nature of AI images is fascinating, but behind the proliferation of these AI-powered pages there appears to be a classic case of traditional engagement bait. AI can increase the number of followers on a page, potentially benefiting the page owner.
The question I'm left with is, why is Facebook allowing this? According to a report from 404 Media, Meta occasionally takes action against specific pages, but only in really special cases, such as when an account is hacked or when an ugly AI-generated image of a child is removed. It is said that it is limited to These likely violate other existing content guidelines.
There are several theories as to why Facebook allows this type of AI image spam (for now).
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This is an election year, and Facebook must address larger issues around content moderation.
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The images themselves are mostly harmless, and individual images do not violate our content guidelines. Ebi Jesus is stupid and things like that can ruin your Facebook experience in the long run, but for now it's not really a question of violating content rules.
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Engagement baiting isn't necessarily a forbidden tactic either. There's no reason you can't post lots of engaging content to trick Boomers (and other generations) into commenting. While there are ways to violate the rules using certain spam tactics, these AI-powered accounts are probably not stepping over the line.
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Facebook will now detect and label some images generated by AI, but there is no rule that says you can't post something just because it was generated by AI. (When I asked how they handle these, a Meta representative told me about this policy announcement.)
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(404 Media theory): Meta is so invested in AI that he wants us to get used to seeing AI images, so he's going to let it go.