Let’s Talk AI, GenAI, And Everything In Between
This month, we’re talking about the elephant in the room: AI. It’s all around us, and we can’t avoid it anymore. As the phenomenon becomes a more prevalent (and oftentimes unwelcome) reality in our online lives, we’ve compiled some videos and best practices for how to deal with generative AI (or genAI) and its effects, as well as debunked some myths about AI that have developed rapidly over the past few years.
ICYMI: GenAI in Creator and Social Media Spaces
By Zainab Kane
This past Halloween, we looked at the scarier aspects of generative AI; rampant prompt-generated videos that blur the line between reality and fabrication are all the rage on social media these days. It can become difficult to trust what we see, even when we’re dealing with harmless viral videos or photos of “wholesome” moments. In this video, Brandii and Morgan share some tips and tricks on how you can recognize genAI in viral video content.
As creators, we’re also often exposed to generative AI in the form of art, and even AI-generated creators. Here at BGGC, we’re staunchly in opposition to the use of generative AI to replace human creativity. This includes the use of generative AI “art”, even if it’s used as a reference for commissioning real artists. In the video below, artist and streamer Musume explores why genAI is harmful in the creative space, and some alternatives for providing references to artists.
Meanwhile, some people in the creator and streamer space endeavor to replace creators themselves with AI-generated streamers and YouTubers. This has evidently caused many viewers to become fearful and paranoid when it comes to discerning whether streamers are real, and it’s unfortunately bled into the Vtuber space, where the facelessness of the medium leaves room for doubt and suspicion. BlazetteMidnight, a founding advisor of the Twitch Vtubers Creator Club, content creator, and artist, gives us a helpful breakdown on how we can discern AI creators from the real thing.
How AI Can Perpetuate Harmful Stereotypes
By Morgan Of The Leaf
In addition to questioning whether the videos we view are AI-generated, we should also question whether the content in the videos perpetuates harmful stereotypes. With the rise of AI video creation software, many users with malicious intent have created videos depicting harmful racial, ethnic, gender, and sexual orientation stereotypes to influence how certain groups of people are viewed in society.
Pushing Racist Propaganda
Many social media platforms now have AI-generated “influencers” that post “get ready with me” videos, skincare routines, and more. Not only do these AI-generated influencers take away attention and opportunities from human influencers, but they are also often used to push racist propaganda. An AI-generated video went widely viral for depicting a Black woman eating fried chicken while discussing a commonly debated topic in Black social media spaces. Videos such as these are modern-day minstrel shows and caricatures used to mock Black people and fuel racist humor.
Pushing Harmful Political Agendas
When Republicans made a push for a tax bill that proposed huge cuts to SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits (formerly known as food stamps), social media platforms became flooded with AI-generated videos depicting Black women yelling at the camera about losing their SNAP benefits, attempting to use their EBT in unauthorized places (such as military aircraft carriers), and many more artificially created scenarios. These videos were created to rage-bait social media users, cause division, and enforce the debunked myth that Black women use the most SNAP benefits.
What We Can Do
Although there is very little regulation on AI-generated videos perpetuating harmful stereotypes, we can combat this harm by reporting these videos and educating our audiences on why these depictions are harmful. Changing these false narratives will not be easy, but it takes awareness first.
Using AI Responsibly
By PopNoTarts
AI, at its core, is meant to analyze and process data. Generative AI (or GenAI) seems to be more prevalent in our lives, but all AI is not GenAI. We’ve had AI around us for years (e.g., Siri, the algorithm on social media) and it’s time to take a closer look at how AI can be used properly for managing systems, data analysis, classifications, and recommendations. However, there are moments when GenAI is used that you may not be aware of. Twitch and YouTube use GenAI to acquire the data that creators use to monitor the growth and success of their channels as well as recommendations for what content does well and what content does not. Other tools such as VidIQ use GenAI for YouTube creators to gather data about their channels, the algorithm itself, and how the content they make either helps or stunts their growth. For example, it rates your thumbnail and titles of your videos by comparing it to the SEO and success of other channels in your niche. It gives a detailed overview of how to make your thumbnail or title better based on the data it has gathered and analyzed. You can use this information to refine your titles, tags, or thumbnails based on these ratings.
In services like Notion, AI can be used to create databases based on prompts, which can be helpful for users who may not be familiar with the platform’s formulas, prompts, and/or hotkeys. This can be helpful to anyone’s workflow and make productive tasks less tedious. It is also important to be mindful of AI you do use as some sites and programs collect data which raises privacy concerns. Be vigilant when reading the terms and conditions of any platform you use if you decide to use AI for automating or organizing your data. Checking your settings to make sure information is not being collected without your consent/permission is also another way to protect yourself! AI is not inherently bad nor is it good. How we use it will eventually determine how it is regulated, developed, and used in the future.
Looking for more resources to navigate this topic? Check out this list of informative articles that touch on privacy, ethics, and safety when it comes to genAI.