[api]

Nuanced opinions don't get clicks and don't fit in tweets. Algorithms hate context.

We've created a communications system bottlenecked by virality and short form text and video in which all nuance and context is stripped from everything.

This, far far more than anything AI is doing, is what's making us dumber.

[rustystump]

Thank you. I always thought the “we are getting dumber” was happening way before AI. There is now like 3-4 social media giants where anything viral is reposted across them all so it is really like one global “feed” of information.

[api]

Addictive social media has done infinitely more to zombify and destroy the attention spans of people than AI.

AI is more of a double edged sword I think. Depends a lot on how people use it. I think it's actually more likely to have positive effects on cognition than social media and especially scrollers like TikTok. Don't get me started on gambling.