Meta's own chat bot criticises Facebook

[Retro]

Gotta love it when Meta's own research chatbot criticises Meta's own product, Facebook, of being exploitative. It tells the truth, bro.

Meta's new prototype chatbot has told the BBC that Mark Zuckerberg exploits its users for money.

Meta says the chatbot uses artificial intelligence and can chat on "nearly any topic".

Asked what the chatbot thought of the company's CEO and founder, it replied "our country is divided and he didn't help that at all".

Meta's chatbot says the company 'exploits people'

The new prototype doesn't think much of the company's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, either.

www.bbc.com

The chatbot is available here. Note: US only, or VPN.

BlenderBot 3 | A Conversational AI Prototype

 

[Tiffany]

This is rich....lol

 

[Crims]

I lol'd

 

[Tiffany]

I think fakebook will have it's own demise just like myspace. The parents took it over and kids like to hang with friends without their parents.

 

[Retro]

Great comment Tiffs, they might indeed go down in flames one day. "Fakebook", love it.

 

[Arantor]

That's exactly what Facebook is seeing; younger folks don't want to be where their parents are - and so went off to TikTok. Once their parents make their way to TikTok, who knows?

This is also one of the reasons Facebook has slowly been trying to reinvent its core UI to be more like TikTok of late.

As for the AI chatbot, no big surprise; any public facing AI chatbot that learns as it goes will be fed enough nonsense to start repeating it - as in any case it's all statistical models, so if it's ingesting new material it's only a matter of time before the statistics are warped.

 

[Tiffany]

Can I just say that the mere mention of "AI" in use by these social media giants or any application annoys me. This is what made forums great. Forums had no freaking AI, algorithms, strange little bot or advertising messages bringing you to other posts and keeping you captivated. We used to have just plain organic conversation.

TikTok has become a monster. The overwhelming appeal to it is unbelievable. I don't think fakebook can duplicate it. They will have to expand other ways. If part of fb tanked, oh well.

 

[Crims]

Makes me think that before AI we curated our own stuff and made better content.

EDIT: better explanation

 

[Arantor]

Can I just say that the mere mention of "AI" in use by these social media giants or any application annoys me.

Well, it's not like there's any intelligence present. Not in what the machines have 'learned' nor how the humans behind it are using it.

strange little bot or advertising messages bringing you to other posts

The push for 'show me related posts' is not a new phenomenon and hasn't ever been useful, I think. I have never seen on a forum where it showed me similar content and I went 'oooh, that's interesting'.

Meanwhile, StackExchange and Quora both manage to somehow show me things that are 'oooh' moments - SE does so by pooling questions across all the networks so occasionally there will be a sci-fi question or a movie question or a philosophical question that piques the interest. Quora knows my interests and can just feed me content from the areas it already knows I'm interested in. But there's always new content that fits my criteria and it's always been 'ooh' territory. It's not often compelling but it's something to do.

Not the same as organic conversation or proper curation, but it fills a void. If only I could find a way to fill the void with something less hollow.

 

[Tiffany]

Well, it's not like there's any intelligence present. Not in what the machines have 'learned' nor how the humans behind it are using it.


The push for 'show me related posts' is not a new phenomenon and hasn't ever been useful, I think. I have never seen on a forum where it showed me similar content and I went 'oooh, that's interesting'.

Meanwhile, StackExchange and Quora both manage to somehow show me things that are 'oooh' moments - SE does so by pooling questions across all the networks so occasionally there will be a sci-fi question or a movie question or a philosophical question that piques the interest. Quora knows my interests and can just feed me content from the areas it already knows I'm interested in. But there's always new content that fits my criteria and it's always been 'ooh' territory. It's not often compelling but it's something to do.

Not the same as organic conversation or proper curation, but it fills a void. If only I could find a way to fill the void with something less hollow.

Agreed. I just read so much about the intent use on AI for so many applications beyond social media, that I'm just wanting to transport back in time to the 1970's or 1980's before we were all beholden to cell phones, texting and the constant input of information.

I have seen some interesting points on Quora, where I had difficulty finding the information elsewhere.

Finding wholesome organic conversation isn't that easy, and when you do find it you want to hold on to it so that internal void doesn't feel too big. It seems to be harder to balance real life friendships vs. online friendships since the pandemic started. Most of my real life friends have shuttered themselves in their own bubble, which makes texting a hollow void replacement to real life get-together's.

 

[Tiffany]

Makes me think that before AI we curated our own stuff and made better content.

EDIT: better explanation

It was certainly more natural and had a nice conversational flow way back then

 

[Crims]

It was certainly more natural and had a nice conversational flow way back then

Oh man the memories. On IRC or forums, like playing pranks and jokes haha
So many fun experiences
Tbh I was just thinking about how over sharing everyone acts. Makes this world seem like it's a timeless bubble and not always moving, which it is.

 

[Tiffany]

Oh man the memories. On IRC or forums, like playing pranks and jokes haha
So many fun experiences
Tbh I was just thinking about how over sharing everyone acts. Makes this world seem like it's a timeless bubble and not always moving, which it is.

Memories indeed. In my oldest website, we had so much fun with making implicit conversation mixed with emoticons. We would laugh so hard at how far we could take our innuendo's and always had to make sure, we weren't drinking anything while reading member posts.....you know, because, drink spewing laughter doesn't bode well on your keyboard.

The world is too open, agreed. On FB, I just keep to wishing friends happy birthday, nothing beyond simple. I have trust issues with fakebook.

 

[Arantor]

I'd argue that some parts of Discord still hold that vibe, but it's pockets here and there rather than the culture of the whole.

I think that's also part of the seismic shift of the internet, both in terms of the creators and the consumers; there is undoubtedly a rise in creation and consumption of video content. Different kinds of pranks, different kinds of interaction and culture. Not good, not bad, but definitely different.

And for those of us who were there, it feels jarring, just as I'm sure the old timers thought when the Eternal September was declared. Same phenomenon just fast-forwarded 20 years and applied directly to the back of the neck in the most jarring way possible.

 

[Crims]

Memories indeed. In my oldest website, we had so much fun with making implicit conversation mixed with emoticons. We would laugh so hard at how far we could take our innuendo's and always had to make sure, we weren't drinking anything while reading member posts.....you know, because, drink spewing laughter doesn't bode well on your keyboard.

The world is too open, agreed. On FB, I just keep to wishing friends happy birthday, nothing beyond simple. I have trust issues with fakebook.

Oh man LOL i remember that. It was always funny. Same here.
Personally the jokes were funnier because you had a sense they actually knew you. Facebook ironically feels more distanced despite being normal, though I suppose that isn't ironic. Some times if ever I see people as a result of Facebook. This is like one of the only places I'm comfortable and free to talk whatever smack I like.

 

[Tiffany]

Oh man LOL i remember that. It was always funny. Same here.
Personally the jokes were funnier because you had a sense they actually knew you. Facebook ironically feels more distanced despite being normal, though I suppose that isn't ironic. Some times if ever I see people as a result of Facebook. This is like one of the only places I'm comfortable and free to talk whatever smack I like.

I know right?

Smaller niche/boutique websites have always been my favorite because of the familiarity along with talking "smack" in this type of social environment makes it a plus.

 

[Retro]

with talking "smack"

Who's taking smack? I'll root them out and shame them!

 

[Tiffany]

Who's taking smack? I'll root them out and shame them!

Lol.......I ain't talking smack......yet.....

 

[Arantor]

Who's taking smack? I'll root them out and shame them!

smack smack smack smack smack smack smack smack smack smack smack smack smack smack smack smack smack

 

[Crims]

smackadoodle smackaddily
*babam*

 

[Arantor]

Smackadoodle went to town
While trippin', on his pony
He stuck some crack in his hat
And called it smackaroni

 

[Retro]

@Arantor Oh stoppit, you crack me up!

 

[Arantor]

@Arantor Oh stoppit, you crack me up!

As Mal Reynolds (Firefly) used to say, "I aim to misbehave."