Digitally Perfect, Physically Flawed.

An AI image test was made recently prompting to find the perfect male and female body according to social media and the results were interesting. Because, as expected, the "perfect" body was unrealistic, but the male body was more unrealistic than the female.

Talk about unrealistic body images.

Cover up.

But it is interesting, as the AI is going to pull what is available and apply some kind of algorithm as to what is perfect, which is dictated by us. And what this means is that on average, we have an unrealistic opinion of perfect, which isn't a surprise, since perfect is impossible. However, it should be noted that it is that on average, we all have issues with this, or at least the ones who are the most active on social media - the ones who get the most support from the average.

And, it is the average that AI caters for, because it can't actually compete with the best of us yet. At least in written form, when asking it for content it scrapes the internet and generates something that impresses the average person, but is far too generic to fool a professional. As I have stated before, there is a regression to the mean and while not catering to the lowest common denominator, it is catering to the average.

However, it is a tool for the average to be better than they can be themselves, because it is able to get quick and easy results that the average person can't get, either because they won't spend the time to learn, or can't get the skills to be good enough. No person serious about their skill (other than if they are AI coders) is going to use a chatbot as a representation of their skill level, because it doesn't reach a high enough standard.

It is much like the body shaping apps that people use to "improve" their images, because they can't achieve that level by themselves. It tells of their desire though and that they are unhappy with themselves as they are, which indicates why there is such a high suicide rate against people who are "influencers" on social media. Or should I say,

The influenced.

Who is influencing who here? After all, they are monetized by demand and we are collectively demanding unrealistic results, but the more we hover and click, the further skewed it becomes. Those looking to monetize have to increasingly move to an impossible extreme in order to compete for our attention, pushing the reality and the fantasy of themselves further apart.

But, while they have built their identity upon the public facing avatar of themselves, they also see behind the curtain and know that it really isn't them, no matter how much they wish it to be true. They are living a known lie and are being rewarded for it, which likely leads to quite a few conflicting self-esteem issues.

"You're so beautiful!"

Well, digital you. Meeting you in person - you are disappointing.

Reality doesn't meet expectations and all that digital sweetness is replaced by lines, blemishes, stretchmarks, rolls, cellulite, acne and whatever else people might find unattractive.

Not to mention the difference in personality.

So, the influencers are actually the influenced, hacked by the algorithms that drive them to act in a specific way, which is one that gets the most eyes on them. This is driven by the platforms and encouraged through the reward mechanisms so that the corporation can increase their traffic, click rates and ultimately, their bottom line.

The entire internet is a fantasy, at least at the general level, because that is what the algorithms promote. The replication of popular content is driven by what gets the most clicks, so when an AI trawls for popular content, it is going to get what the average person is attracted to, whether it is factual or not.

AI is not discerning, it is averaging, so it is going to provide results that will push some views over others, because that is what is being propagated throughout the internet, especially through the content sites that the average person uses, because that is where the content is being consumed - in the average.

There is nothing wrong with being average and enjoying average, but, we really shouldn't want our creative exploration being driven by average people and what they enjoy consuming. Otherwise, all fields start to resemble the equivalent of Temptation Island, or some such ridiculous reality show, which is not in touch with reality at all.

we don't want average people working toward clean energy solutions, because average people are highly unlikely to find a solution at all. And, we don't want the people who have a chance to cure cancer, to learn from AI generated content, because AI doesn't have the solution. Yes, AI can support these people in many ways, but they have to be able to think for themselves, not regurgitate what is already known in a way that the average person can understand it.

We need exceptional.

But, there is little support for exceptional people in most fields, unless they can kick a ball or dunk a ball. The people who are actually improving our world though, they have to fight for any support and compete with enhanced images of impossible body types for attention.

And they are losing.

We are influenced heavily by what we consume and while we might look at the end result of these AI manipulated images and be nudged, the people creating them are influenced by the apps they are consuming, to satisfy a monetization model they are consuming. It is all part of the attention economy.

It is all about consumption.

We are what we eat and now, we live in a world where we are eating such highly processed content that it is no longer useful, as it can no longer steers us into an achievable direction. It isn't inspirational or aspirational, it is depressing - because we can't compete with our own desires, we will always fall short. And when we are building our identity on fantasy, we can neither be happy with who we are, or accept ourselves as we are.

Because what we have become is an avatar.
A caricature of human.

Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]