You know what I never thought I'd be doing?

[LuckyCharms]

Looking at something, and having to ask: "Is that real"?

Now, it is the norm apparently.

You know what I mean, because we see it several times a day now.

See a picture online? Is that real, or AI? It's getting harder to tell by the day.

See a story? Is that real, or bullshit, or AI generated?

I just realized the enormity of this situation, because I find myself asking "Is that real" far too often.

Even with robotic voices...it's getting harder to tell if you are talking to a human or not. So you start talking to the voices as if they were human...but they don't respond naturally.

My opinion: If this AI shit isn't somehow curtailed, it will be the downfall of mankind.

Because everything that man invents that can possibly be useful? Man will fuck it up until it is useless and harmful.

I don't like this.

[KS Toronado]

1. Is this thread real or is it memorex?

[Goonch]

3. ;-{)....

[multigraincracker]

2. My imaginary world was much better.

[calimary]

5. Mine, too.

The bad guys got what they deserved.

Dream on…

[OldBaldy1701E]

4. You are welcome to utilize my philosophy on the matter.

Did it come from the internet?

Then, it is fake until you can back it up.

I do not trust anything coming from the net because it is far too easy to make things that look 'real' with the internet.

Don't ask me how I know this.

[LSparkle]

6. "Why do you doubt the truth, Dave?"

[jfz9580m]

7. I have endured so many malicious bot or not tests myself

That now I write clearly in my own voice for the first time in my life starting from around March 6, 2026.
The quality of my writing is uneven as I am not a particularly gifted writer and it is only the depth of the frustration, disbelief and disgust I am driven by that makes it flow.

But as someone who largely eschews all forms of media but text, I would like human personality and humanity to come through in writing so that more parasitic cottage industries (lie detection, emotion detection, fall monitoring, through the wall surveillance) cannot be justified using garbage tech (deepfakes, ai agents, rubbishy voice assistants) these same idiots disseminated irresponsibly.

I found to my slight surprise as an atheist that certain kinds of Christian (to be clear explicitly left Christianity- a DUer here tommy..I apologize for forgetting the whole handle, told me a year or so ago that the Episcopal church has enlightened views) language (just text..I am leery of voice assistants..I go just by what I read and how it plays in my head..l dislike listening to things) appeals to me.

[chouchou]

8. Now..The Internet reminds me of the "Mail" we get.

You've Won!
We can't process your items without your Visa card. Click here and...
A very special deal is waiting JUST-For-You!!
We're sorry..Your package was mailed to a different address. Please click and write your address on....
YES!! YOU CAN HAVE A FREE..YES A FREE ROOF!!! We'll come to your house and...

(Yeah..You'll come to my house and bug the shit out of me)

[llmart]

9. I'm still waiting to win the Readers Digest Sweepstakes ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!!!

[chouchou]

11. Oh Yes..Just have your Visa card ready when....

You and I know exactly where they can shove the Readers Digest up their...

[calimary]

12. I've seen those.

Too many times by now.

[Harker]

10. I don't like it, either.

It makes me feel nostalgic for the days when those who fell out of favor in the USSR were very obviously blotted out of photographs.

I'll be looking out the windows more.

[Just Jerome]

13. If you haven't yet,

see “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die.”

That ought to get you going.

[highplainsdem]

14. Generative AI, the type you're talking about, is an existential threat. Teachers are among the groups

who've been pointing this out. Article in the Guardian yesterday:

'I wish I could push ChatGPT off a cliff': professors scramble to save critical thinking in an age of AI
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100221086763

There was a recent survey asking people if AI has more benefits or risks. About twice as many people thought it had more risks as those who thought it has more benefits.

Even if we could stop the AI slop on the internet now, so much has been generated in just a few years that it would take years to clear most of it away.

I love discovering music from.artists I hadn't heard of before, but these days there's so much AI slop music on YouTube and other platforms that I'm relieved when I see a video is too old to have been generated by AI. Real artists are hurt by all the AI slop, though.

Really, everyone is hurt by AI slop. It confuses people about what's real, and that's a situation that benefits dictators and wannabe dictators, as people who aren't sure what to believe put their faith in authoritarian leaders. AI hurts real news sources by diverting attention to fake news outlets - it can take only a couple of hours and a couple hundred dollars to set up a fake news site with fake staff with fake bios including fake photos, and lots of fake news stories already generated after the AI rips off real news stories for real people's names and changes details. AI hurts real writers and artists and musicians by diverting attention from them to people without that talent who are using AI to fake it. AI discourages people from acquiring skills and knowledge, and developing talent.

Tremendous loss, all the way around. I knew it would be harmful but didn't expect it to get this bad, this quickly.

I just spotted another AI slop video here, that one posted in the Science forum. Sigh.

LC, if you check comments on images or video or purported news stories posted online, the comments will often include people pointing out if something is AI. But yeah, it's a time-consuming nuisance to have to do that because the AI companies released AI tools that are basically high-speed fraud generators.

[Ptah]

15. Even in real life, I ask myself: Is this real?