I am extremely concerned about the prevalence of AI content on our social media feeds. Now that just about anyone can generate hyper-realistic videos with a simple text prompt, I fear that disinformation will rise exponentially, distorting worldviews faster than algorithms have so far been able to do. So you can imagine how I feel about Meta’s plans to add a “huge corpus” of AI content to its feeds. Good luck out there, everyone.
That’s directly from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself. In a Meta Platforms, Inc. earnings call on Wednesday, Zuckerberg confirmed the company’s plans to add this self-described huge corpus of content, thanks to how easy AI makes it to create and “remix” content. People will create AI content, the platform’s recommendation systems will deliver that content to people, who may then slightly alter that content and send it back into the Metaverse. As this feedback loop will continue, feeds will start filling up with more and more AI content. That’s good for Meta, and anyone who enjoys watching videos that aren’t real. For those of us a little sick of this content, or worried we won’t be able to spot it during long scrolling session, it’s only bad news.
While much (if not most) of that AI content is likely coming from outside sources, like OpenAI’s Sora, some of it may come from Meta itself. The company recently rolled out “Vibes,” its own short-form AI video generator, as part of the existing Meta AI app. Users can create videos directly in Vibes, or remix existing videos. I’d wager some Vibes content is going to cross your Meta feed in the near future, if it hasn’t already.
Zuckerberg took the time to highlight how Meta’s AI recommendation systems across all of its core products—Facebook, Instagram, and Threads—are delivering “higher quality and more relevant content” to users, especially with regards to video. Apparently, the amount of time we’ve spent watching Instagram reels has increased by more than 30% when compared to last year. (Fun fact: Reels brings in over $50 billion according to the earnings call.) That environment seems just right to foster a new wave of AI slop to Meta’s enormous audience.
What do you think so far?
Look, I’ve definitely laughed at some AI memes that have come my way. But to suggest that flooding the feeds with realistic AI videos without any regulation or forethought is a good idea is itself laughable. If you use Meta products, watch out: You might not be able to trust what you’re watching is actually real for much longer—if at all.
