The AI-authenticity crisis

It is difficult to isolate a single dimension of AI: it empowers users to "make" more while commoditizing the tasks it helped with.

People try to use it to differentiate, but it propagates sameness with millions of users prompting the same models.

Everything is happening at light speed. And no one has a full mental model of what is shifting in unison. But some trends are clear.

Technology is getting more and more opaque, harder to trust, and making us more siloed online.

The anti-tech movement has already started. And has some valid points, in-person communication is more authentic.

But electronic mail, texting, and social media were all invented from the need to expand communication beyond the physical world, and it's hard to imagine that just stops evolving.

The biggest change in tech will likely be felt in who we are and what we value.

Anything ChatGPT can tell you is commoditized. Anything Claude can do for you is commoditized.

So what are we left with? Trust is one thing. Authenticity is another. The other values: we decide with what we consume and what we pay for.

I hope the term "AI slop" never goes away, as it cuts straight to the problem: generic outputs that fail the authenticity check.

Anyways,

None of these takes are new or should be controversial. But, as a designer, I do think this message is getting lost.

The authenticity train is a good one to be on long-term.

Because at the end of the day, anyone can prompt ChatGPT to create a million-dollar business idea (good luck) or write an engaging argument. It's just not that interesting.

Todd