You can already see the machine at work. Corporations, politicians, threadbois and “thought leaders” are probing and prodding, searching desperately for ways to use AI to mask problems, gain favor with the public and monetize attention. Amid real technological progress, they’re forging a broad, cynical and craven AI PR industrial complex that’s just now coming into focus.
This AI PR industrial complex is growing larger and worse than its predecessors — like crypto — because the technology is making anything seem possible. With so much opportunity, vacuousness fills the gaps, and exploitation follows. Random academics are hitting the speaking circuit to declare ChatGPT could turn us into paper clips.