The Hidden Abundance of AI in Social Media Content
By Katie McShane
I’d imagine most young people consider themselves tech savvy enough to spot an AI image online. ‘Count the fingers and toes, look for any nondescript ‘writing’ and blurred background. Lecturers and teachers online seem to count themselves capable at spotting AI usage in assignments. Looking for the trademark ‘em dash’ of ChatGPT generated responses.
But can you really notice at a glance what AI looks like in the seemingly usual content filling our algorithms. AI is an ever-developing technology and can easily catch the average user unawares as they scroll on social media. For the sake of investigation, I sat down with ChatGPT and familiarised myself with its various outputs. Soon, I began to notice key signs of AI in seemingly normal TikTok’s, and videos that would have appeared genuine to me, became insincere.
If it was possible, doomscrolling has become even more mindless. With TikTok and Instagram accounts now churning out enough obvious AI content to fill the void where creativity has come to die. I’m certain you’ve come across them, the videos can range from any manner of subjects. There are AI generated ‘cat morality videos’, gone are the days of Aesop’s fables now we have videos of cats experiencing cheating, weight shaming, and abusive relationships. As well as this, recently there’s been an influx of ‘Which bed would you sleep in’ videos on TikTok depicting, once again obvious AI beds made from Honey, Lava, and insert random material here. And any other nonsensical content that’s begun to fill our algorithms, it feels like AI is unstoppable and unfortunately, it’s become impossible to avoid.
Whilst doing my own research I discovered that this issue surpasses ridiculous imagery and spam comments, it reached the very core of online engagement. AI is now being sneaked into seemingly normal content. However, despite the range of videos using ChatGPT generated ideas and scripts, the usual tells are all the same. I’ve found trademarks of these videos to be their short, snappy sentences, their use of full stops, humorous one liners, and a rule of three. The unfortunate clause is, these are all also marketing tools so there is really no way of confirming a script is AI. However, let these serve as examples of what an AI ‘voice’ MAY look like online.
Storytimes
I came across a simple ‘school storytime’ that seemed ordinary, like any other video on my FYP. But on a closer rewatch I noticed some characterises that align with an AI generated text. Following the theme of the video, I asked ChatGPT for a ‘funny and sarcastic storytime complaining about school’. The creator used witty, sharp language which I found reflected in my own AI made script, following similar themes. The rule of three appears, a well-known speech writing technique when the creator describes the hallways as smelling like “Axe, vape juice, and armpits”, the same technique appeared twice in my own AI retelling. The humour in both pieces is more or less the same across the board, that AI comedic ‘voice’ I became familiar with speaks through them both. TikTok complains about slow walkers in the hallway comparing them to a “museum tour”, AI opts to compare them to sightseeing in a “national park”.
And finally, my piece de la resistance; a word for word retelling of ‘their school day’. The creator wonders why “someone’s eating Takis at 8AM like its a balance breakfast”, whilst my ChatGPT states that “there’s always that one kid who eats Takis at 9AM like it’s a balanced breakfast”.
An interesting coincidence.
Sims four/video game challenge ideas
A typical video to grace my FYP and one I though nothing about until I discovered it full of AI trademarks. The snappy one liners (“An enemies-to-lovers romcom but with cows and cross-stitch” – bonus points for the dashes!), the short sentences broken up with full stops rather than commas (“They just wanted peace, tea, and vibes. Now its suspiciously organized”), and of course the rule of three (“Chaos, dust bunnies, and drama).
I wasn’t too surprised when at my request for ‘Sims 4 challenge ideas designed for TikTok’ ChatGPT gave me the same thing. The rule of three (“Theres’s sabotage. Theres’s tension, there’s custard”. The over reliance on full stops, (“no iPad. Just vibes” note also the repeat of ‘vibes’). And the same generic humour found in all these scripts.
Aesthetic lifestyle videos
A bland enough genre of content that documents how the rich and powerful ‘old money’ families live. This video focused on the education of their children. My prompt was simply ‘A written piece on old money boarding schools’.
Certain words and themes stood out in both; prestige, continuity, and tradition. The same ideas “Shared dorms and friendships” compared to “friendships formed in dormitories” and the same closing statements “finishing grounds for legacy” and “finishing grounds for a way of life”.
I found it especially interesting how both used the term “finishing ground” instead of “finishing school” surely a more commonly used term.
As a disclaimer, I’m not trying to ‘call anyone out’ but simply promote awareness to how simple it can be to prompt a computer and have content in less than a minute. The videos I used have almost half a million views combined, the same videos I had duplicated in minutes. It’s important to be mindful of the content we consume especially as we progress further into the AI minefield. We need to begin to consider the intent behind the content and the background associated with it.
