Summary/analysis to Jonathan Haidt and Eric Schmidt’s “AI is About to Make Social Media (Much) More Toxic.”

1. Personalized super-influencers will make it much easier for companies, criminals, and foreign agents to influence us to do their bidding via social media platforms. Haidt and Schmidt argue that AI will be used to create personalized super-influencers who will be able to manipulate our emotions and beliefs with unprecedented precision. This could be used to influence our political views, our purchasing decisions, and even our behavior.

2. AI will make social media much more addictive for children, thereby accelerating the ongoing teen mental health epidemic. Haidt and Schmidt argue that AI will be used to make social media even more addictive for children, who are already vulnerable to the negative effects of social media use. This could lead to increased rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide among teenagers.

3. AI will make it more difficult to moderate social media platforms, as it will be able to generate and distribute harmful content at an unprecedented scale. Haidt and Schmidt argue that AI will make it more difficult for social media platforms to moderate harmful content, as AI will be able to generate and distribute this content at an unprecedented scale. This could lead to a further decline in the quality of public discourse and an increase in the spread of hate speech and extremism.

Haidt and Schmidt conclude by calling for urgent action to address these threats. They suggest that we need to develop new regulations for social media platforms, invest in research on the negative effects of AI on social media, and educate the public about the dangers of AI-powered social media manipulation.

Analysis

Haidt and Schmidt's essay provides a powerful and persuasive warning about the potential dangers of AI-powered social media. Their arguments are well-supported by evidence, and they offer concrete solutions to address the threats they identify.

One of the strengths of Haidt and Schmidt's essay is that it focuses on the social and psychological implications of AI-powered social media, rather than simply the technical challenges. They argue that AI is not simply a tool that can be used for good or evil; it is a technology that has the potential to reshape our society in fundamental ways.

Another strength of the essay is that it offers a realistic assessment of the challenges we face. Haidt and Schmidt do not offer easy solutions to the problem of AI-powered social media manipulation. They recognize that it will require a coordinated effort from policymakers, technologists, and the public to address these threats.

Overall, Haidt and Schmidt's essay is an important contribution to the debate about the future of social media and the role of AI in our society. It is a must-read for anyone who is concerned about the potential dangers of AI-powered social media manipulation.

In their essay "AI is About to Make Social Media (Much) More Toxic," Jonathan Haidt and Eric Schmidt argue that artificial intelligence (AI) is on the verge of making social media even more toxic than it is today.

They identify four main threats:

1. AI-enhanced social media will wash ever-larger torrents of garbage into our public conversation. Haidt and Schmidt argue that AI will be used to create more persuasive and addictive content, including misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda. This content will be targeted to our individual biases and interests, making it difficult to avoid.