The rise of AI content, and it's not good...

[rubber_jonnie]

I've noticed of late a lot of shorts on YouTube purporting to be 'machining incidents'.

I don't know why specifically I'm getting these, though I do often look at mechanical engineering videos so that could be the connection.

I'm seeing videos like this: Blatant AI video

If you look at what happens in the video, it is blatantly AI generated, things just look odd and workers reactions are not what you'd expect in such a situation. Physics is clearly being defied!!!

They are literally everywhere and I can only assume people are creating these in the hope that they'll get clicks, but they are just a bit weird...

[alexh]

I don't know why specifically I'm getting these

Tell me about it. I always log-in, YouTube knows everything about me (name, age, sex etc), no-one else ever uses my account and yet I only get adverts for feminine hygiene products, menopause supplements and chocolate?!

it is blatantly AI generated,

The quality of the AI generated content is getting better every week. I have to look really hard at some to be able to spot "unnatural content". It's only a matter of time before scammers are able to use it to generate believable fake dashcam / security camera footage for things like insurance fraud or criminal alibi's etc.

[rubber_jonnie]

Tell me about it. I always log-in, YouTube knows everything about me (name, age, sex etc), no-one else ever uses my account and yet I only get adverts for feminine hygiene products, menopause supplements and chocolate?!

OK then...

I must admit, some of the ads I get are pretty well targeted, but others, like yours, are just off the charts weird.

The quality of the AI generated content is getting better every week. I have to look really hard at some to be able to spot "unnatural content". It's only a matter of time before scammers are able to use it to generate believable fake dashcam / security camera footage for things like insurance fraud or criminal alibi's etc.

It is getting better for sure and I find it extremely worrying. Sure, AI has it's uses and I have to use it at work now, we've jumped in feet first, but we have guardrails and it is helpful, however the video stuff is getting so close to real that there will come a point where it is indistinguishable from reality and our eyes will deceive us, and like you say, it will be used for nefarious purposes.

All very disturbing.

[exxos]

If you guys like conspiracy theories, those dancing nurses during lockdown are being questioned of being AI generated, even though AI should not have been good enough at the time.. Its hard to tell, but sometimes the physics of them moving looks to "light weight" .

I've almost given up watching anything on YouTube because it's either recycled content for the 100th time. Or a blend of that and many amazing new discoveries which are just total nonsense.

Was saying to my girlfriend just yesterday, there is just so much stuff out there now, he really is impossible to figure out what is real and what isn't any more. So anything which looks "amazing" I just don't bother any more as you simply cannot trust is true or factual in any way shape or form without massive research.. Which I really can't be bothered to do..

Other than selected trusted people which I've been following for years, I basically don't even click on videos any more. Plus what is in my feed seems to be "stuck" on show me stuff I've already watched recently all years ago or suggesting stuff to me which is simply bizarre. So I think the algorithm is totally broken now anyway.

[rubber_jonnie]

@exxos

Yep, I only trust what are chennels I've been following for some time, anything new I see I don't trust until I'm able to verify somehow.

Here's another doozy: More AI slop

See how the laws of physics are optional...

[Steve]

Dunno if this might interest anyone but I've been using an awesome app called Free tube: https://freetubeapp.io/

You just export all your subscriptions from YouTube and then import them into Freetube. It only ever shows you what you're subscribed to (unless you use the search feature) it's absolutely lightweight (uses literally 20% the resources the real YouTube website uses) so it's great on tablets. And they have versions for pretty much any OS. I have it on my Linux Debian tablet.

But yeah I literally never see targeted videos or anything that I'm not subscribed to.

[rubber_jonnie]

Dunno if this might interest anyone but I've been using an awesome app called Free tube: https://freetubeapp.io/

You just export all your subscriptions from YouTube and then import them into Freetube. It only ever shows you what you're subscribed to (unless you use the search feature) it's absolutely lightweight (uses literally 20% the resources the real YouTube website uses) so it's great on tablets. And they have versions for pretty much any OS. I have it on my Linux Debian tablet.

But yeah I literally never see targeted videos or anything that I'm not subscribed to.

Hmm, interesting...

[exxos]

I wonder if there is a online version @Steve .. I mean really it would be useful if I could just have people who I am actually subscribe to only appear in my feed. Maybe I could get AI to write a script for me :lol:

Anyway...

You can now even see what your town looks like abandoned :lol:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1486690986333855


I mean sure, there's been some interesting stuff created with AI. I like watching the storm troopers and Bigfoot stuff , but it just gets a bit "old" after a while. Funny cat AI Videos were funny but now they are just repetitive and just not bothered about them any more.

I think YouTube is pretty much beyond redemption at this point IMHO. They really should shift all the AI content to another site before it gets any worse.

Its bad enough trying to work out if what people are saying if it is actually true or not in videos, now we have a whole other layer of "it probably isn't true". Plus as many creators have said, a lot of videos are simply making us dumber now. There is just no point even trying to watch the videos any more..

Similar on Facebook, I don't really care about it anyway. But we keep going back to those idiots that want to put a generator on one of the wheels of a car to charge the battery as it is travelling along.. To be fair a lot of the comments did correctly bash the post.. but all its does is trigger people for the reason of just getting likes and comments. People don't need that in their lives.

Similar thing with X.com. Well-known people who ask questions what they think about things, and they will actually get endless thousands of replies people's opinions.. Then what ? The original creator I doubt even reads any of the replies. Its just to get views and make them feel important.

A lot is clickbait AI posts now. I mean bad information has always been a problem on the Internet. But now, it is on steroids across multiple platforms..

The whole thing as my brain spinning over the past year or more now. It's like I'm being gas lighted at every turn with everything on the Internet. I have to question my own sanity and read technical papers form sources like Texas Instruments to make sure I am not getting something wrong somewhere. I say the same to my girlfriend, it is like everything you think you know is true, isn't any more. But where exactly do you verify what is true and how do you decide if it is true or not ? The whole thing is just a mess.

For example, like when I messed up the H5 audio circuit. Not dealt with linear amps for a long time. Though I knew the circuit was simple, but I just had a nagging feeling something was wrong somewhere.. Then I checked all the circuits "on the internet" and thought, well it must be right.. then later find out I was right in the beginning, there was something wrong with it. But that's always been the problem with the Internet, that something is posted and regurgitated across multiple sites as fact when it is not. Now with AI in the mix, you might as well quit right at the start in trying to find anything out. It really boils down to what sources you really believe all true..

Its why I tend to like all the technical stuff like from the 80s. when we get into the 90s things start getting over complicated when they don't need to be. Someone told me years ago, when things cannot be explained simply, then the people who are explaining it don't really understand it themselves either.. I think he was probably right.

Similar with AI tools. I think it would be good to have a AI model, where you can just drop in stuff you trust, like datasheets from manufactures and keep out all the stuff "what people say on the internet". But that's another topic by itself..

There was a three-part documentary done by the BBC about AI that we watched over the weekend.. Basically on how it is going wrong etc. I said to my girlfriend, AI is basically a child at this point. And we have it driving cars killing people now.. But that one was a little bit misleading as well, because they did not give the information as to how many people were killed by actual drivers versus Ai driven cars.. typical BBC bias as usual.

There was a video from Linus Tech tips a few days ago which I watched. They were basically debating the same question, as to what
sources of information would you actually trust... I don't think they could come to any sort of conclusion because there was no real reliable answer.. And that is rather concerning by itself....

The whole thing is just incredibly tiresome to be honest ...But I degrease....