Interesting interview (a bit long). Bottom line:
Petter Törnberg: What I would say to that is that we are at a crisis point with the rise of LLMs and AI. I have a hard time seeing the contemporary model of social media continuing to exist under the weight of LLMs and their capacity to mass-produce false information or information that optimizes these social network dynamics. We already see a lot of actors—based on this monetization of platforms like X—that are using AI to produce content that just seeks to maximize attention. So misinformation, often highly polarized information—as AI models become more powerful, that content is going to take over. I have a hard time seeing the conventional social media models surviving that.
We've already seen the process of people retreating in part to credible brands and seeking to have gatekeepers. Young people, especially, are going into WhatsApp groups and other closed communities. Of course, there's misinformation from social media leaking into those chats also. But these kinds of crisis points at least have the hope that we'll see a changing situation. I wouldn't bet that it's a situation for the better. You wanted me to sound positive, so I tried my best. Maybe it's actually "good riddance."
Ars Technica: So let's just blow up all the social media networks. It still won't be better, but at least we'll have different problems.
Petter Törnberg: Exactly. We'll find a new ditch.
Petter Törnberg: What I would say to that is that we are at a crisis point with the rise of LLMs and AI. I have a hard time seeing the contemporary model of social media continuing to exist under the weight of LLMs and their capacity to mass-produce false information or information that optimizes these social network dynamics. We already see a lot of actors—based on this monetization of platforms like X—that are using AI to produce content that just seeks to maximize attention. So misinformation, often highly polarized information—as AI models become more powerful, that content is going to take over. I have a hard time seeing the conventional social media models surviving that.
We've already seen the process of people retreating in part to credible brands and seeking to have gatekeepers. Young people, especially, are going into WhatsApp groups and other closed communities. Of course, there's misinformation from social media leaking into those chats also. But these kinds of crisis points at least have the hope that we'll see a changing situation. I wouldn't bet that it's a situation for the better. You wanted me to sound positive, so I tried my best. Maybe it's actually "good riddance."
Ars Technica: So let's just blow up all the social media networks. It still won't be better, but at least we'll have different problems.
Petter Törnberg: Exactly. We'll find a new ditch.
