Apart from being cheaper, virtual celebrities have other advantages over human ones. “They don’t complain” and firms “don’t have to worry about them ruining their reputation”, says Kim Sang-kyun from Kangwon National University in Gangwon province.

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[–] zifnab25@hexbear.net 11 points 2 years ago

We've got AI influencers to pair up with all those bot accounts inflating activity on the platforms. Then we've got marketing departments dedicated to following the trends created by AI influencers interacting with bot accounts, but we're replacing those teams with LLMs. So, eventually, it'll just be a black hole of spending, where we pay people to operate a big machine labeled "AI" that simulates popular culture.

The real danger of this fishbowl of mass media is that people fixate on it and lose sight of their own material conditions. But as more and more resources go into maintaining the fishbowl, everyone else's lives fall farther and farther away from the surreal glamour of the online phantasms. Because its all artificial, it isn't even clear how many people are engaging with these things. Just illusion stacked on illusion, until a big enough reality comes smashing through.