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Of all the silly outcomes from recent AI development I was predicting, human rights organizations using fake AI generated images of injustice to manufacture emo

Of all the silly outcomes from recent AI development I was predicting, human rights organizations using fake AI generated images of injustice to manufacture emotionally driven support for them wasn't on the list. Excited to watch the next riots in the US be sparked from an AI generated video of _Racism_.

amtamt 3y ago
It is not silly. It feels almost criminal. And kind of confirms everything is just business now a days...
- gjsman-1000 3y ago
  You should watch Poverty Inc.. It's a 2014 documentary about the big business of... fighting poverty; which ironically would go out of business if poverty ceased. I don't agree with all the statements or conclusions but it's still eye-opening and dystopian.
seanmcdirmid 3y ago
I was honestly expecting AI generated porn to be a bigger thing right now. But I guess it’s still early.
- vuln 3y ago
  I’m sure when the times comes there will be a _sex workers union_ lobbying for regulations on AI porn due to the loss of jobs. It’s already happening with the writers guild…
  - gjsman-1000 3y ago
    > I’m sure when the times comes there will be a _sex workers union_ lobbying for regulations on AI porn due to the loss of jobs. Porn already, for 95%+ of performers, pays terribly. Maybe one or two grand at best per "job" due to rampant piracy, ad-blocking, and the fact that nobody wants it on their credit card statement, and not everyone wants to figure out Bitcoin. They hardly have the capital to start a union, or pay dues. But if AI porn takes off, those earnings will turn porn into purely a "because you want to" business. Probably not a bad thing considering the exploitative aspect in my opinion.
    - vuln 3y ago
      Perhaps Ethical Partners Capital / Mindgeek (which owns 90%+ of all porn sites) will create the union to ensure a stable flow of content. They’ve already taken steps to remove unverified user generated content due to abuse / misuse. Which killed the small time creators and gave the big production studios more screen time.
      - gjsman-1000 3y ago
        I actually see a different future. Even with Identity Verification, there's always the risk that someone will be trafficked, verified as a performer, and then later escape their trafficker, file a lawsuit, and win/achieve a settlement. Which has (allegedly) happened multiple times, at least with pending lawsuits. What's safer than Identity Verification? AI-generated porn. Completely "ethically" sourced, with no humans involved to potentially get hurt. Infinite variety, instantly customizable to everyone's own preferences, and (theoretically) truly endless in style and form. Also, it kills one of the biggest secular arguments against porn: "If nobody could possibly be trafficked or underage, what's the problem again, outside of your religious arguments?" The moment it really hits the fan, I expect MindGeek would immediately adopt it. They can't bear the idea of losing market share to some competing app with such features. More variety and lower risk? They never cared about their "performers" before, they are a liability that is currently just a cost of doing business. But if they aren't required for the business, they'll be dropped like a hot potato. Assuming porn companies would be concerned about morality is a mistake by any definition. I would not be surprised, at all, if 10-20 years from now, the only porn on PornHub is a back catalog of AI-generated porn; with a subscription available for generating new porn to your preferences. After all, there is perhaps nothing that has more visual training data available for developing an AI against than porn.
        vuln 3y ago
        That makes sense for the most part. > The moment it really hits the fan, I expect MindGeek would immediately adopt it. They can't bear the idea of losing market share to some competing app with such features. MindGeek would just buyout said company. MindGeek has practically a monopoly on porn and porn sites. https://medium.com/five-guys-facts/8-19-16-davis-ce6771141589 https://medium.com/five-guys-facts/8-19-16-davis-ce677114158...
- CRConrad 3y ago
  All the extra legs, fingers, and other appendages flickering into existence would probably be a serious turn-off for most of the audience.
awaythrow98765 3y ago
Amnesty International is primarily an advertisement and donation collection business. Most of your donations go straight into advertisements and collecting more donations. Collectors aren't volunteers but hired professional collection agencies/con-artists trained to guilt people out of their money. AI using AI for misrepresentations fits my very low opinion of them.
- PoignardAzur 3y ago
  What percentage of its budget does Amnesty International put into advertising, and is it unusually high for charities? I mean, I'm all for effective altruism, for giving money to charities the charities that help the most people with it with the lowest overhead, and for doing your research before deciding who you donate to (I recommend GiveWell as a starting point); but "hiring PR agents to solicit donations" is hardly unique to Amnesty.
  - amtamt 3y ago
    From https://www.amnesty.org/en/2021-global-financial-report/ https://www.amnesty.org/en/2021-global-financial-report/ > 2021 was a record-breaking year with a total fundraising income of €357m. And > The largest proportion of the movement’s programme expenditure €26.4m (35%) was spent towards Goal One. And > 45% of total income spent on Human rights research, advocacy, campaigning, raising awareness and education So ~20% (75m of 357m) was actually spent on real work, assuming everything reached end beneficiaries. Interesting way of showing 45% of expenditure clubbing multiple heads, while showing 2% expenditure on "Maintaining our democratic system of governance".
    - MichaelZuo 3y ago
      Yikes, only 20% going to actual end beneficiaries is pretty low.
    - PoignardAzur 3y ago
      I'm not sure your math holds up, though. Among other things, it sounds like their income was higher than their expenditures, eg that they had some money left at the end of the year; so your "75m of 375m" ratio isn't quite right. Maybe I missed something.
stronglikedan 3y ago
These types of organizations have been faking images to gain sympathy since the dawn of photography, but now it just takes a person and a prompt, instead of an entire production team.

amtamt 3y ago

It is not silly. It feels almost criminal. And kind of confirms everything is just business now a days...

gjsman-1000 3y ago
You should watch Poverty Inc.. It's a 2014 documentary about the big business of... fighting poverty; which ironically would go out of business if poverty ceased. I don't agree with all the statements or conclusions but it's still eye-opening and dystopian.

seanmcdirmid 3y ago

I was honestly expecting AI generated porn to be a bigger thing right now. But I guess it’s still early.

vuln 3y ago
I’m sure when the times comes there will be a _sex workers union_ lobbying for regulations on AI porn due to the loss of jobs. It’s already happening with the writers guild…
- gjsman-1000 3y ago
  > I’m sure when the times comes there will be a _sex workers union_ lobbying for regulations on AI porn due to the loss of jobs. Porn already, for 95%+ of performers, pays terribly. Maybe one or two grand at best per "job" due to rampant piracy, ad-blocking, and the fact that nobody wants it on their credit card statement, and not everyone wants to figure out Bitcoin. They hardly have the capital to start a union, or pay dues. But if AI porn takes off, those earnings will turn porn into purely a "because you want to" business. Probably not a bad thing considering the exploitative aspect in my opinion.
  - vuln 3y ago
    Perhaps Ethical Partners Capital / Mindgeek (which owns 90%+ of all porn sites) will create the union to ensure a stable flow of content. They’ve already taken steps to remove unverified user generated content due to abuse / misuse. Which killed the small time creators and gave the big production studios more screen time.
    - gjsman-1000 3y ago
      I actually see a different future. Even with Identity Verification, there's always the risk that someone will be trafficked, verified as a performer, and then later escape their trafficker, file a lawsuit, and win/achieve a settlement. Which has (allegedly) happened multiple times, at least with pending lawsuits. What's safer than Identity Verification? AI-generated porn. Completely "ethically" sourced, with no humans involved to potentially get hurt. Infinite variety, instantly customizable to everyone's own preferences, and (theoretically) truly endless in style and form. Also, it kills one of the biggest secular arguments against porn: "If nobody could possibly be trafficked or underage, what's the problem again, outside of your religious arguments?" The moment it really hits the fan, I expect MindGeek would immediately adopt it. They can't bear the idea of losing market share to some competing app with such features. More variety and lower risk? They never cared about their "performers" before, they are a liability that is currently just a cost of doing business. But if they aren't required for the business, they'll be dropped like a hot potato. Assuming porn companies would be concerned about morality is a mistake by any definition. I would not be surprised, at all, if 10-20 years from now, the only porn on PornHub is a back catalog of AI-generated porn; with a subscription available for generating new porn to your preferences. After all, there is perhaps nothing that has more visual training data available for developing an AI against than porn.
      - vuln 3y ago
        That makes sense for the most part. > The moment it really hits the fan, I expect MindGeek would immediately adopt it. They can't bear the idea of losing market share to some competing app with such features. MindGeek would just buyout said company. MindGeek has practically a monopoly on porn and porn sites. https://medium.com/five-guys-facts/8-19-16-davis-ce6771141589 https://medium.com/five-guys-facts/8-19-16-davis-ce677114158...
CRConrad 3y ago
All the extra legs, fingers, and other appendages flickering into existence would probably be a serious turn-off for most of the audience.

awaythrow98765 3y ago

Amnesty International is primarily an advertisement and donation collection business. Most of your donations go straight into advertisements and collecting more donations. Collectors aren't volunteers but hired professional collection agencies/con-artists trained to guilt people out of their money. AI using AI for misrepresentations fits my very low opinion of them.

PoignardAzur 3y ago
What percentage of its budget does Amnesty International put into advertising, and is it unusually high for charities? I mean, I'm all for effective altruism, for giving money to charities the charities that help the most people with it with the lowest overhead, and for doing your research before deciding who you donate to (I recommend GiveWell as a starting point); but "hiring PR agents to solicit donations" is hardly unique to Amnesty.
- amtamt 3y ago
  From https://www.amnesty.org/en/2021-global-financial-report/ https://www.amnesty.org/en/2021-global-financial-report/ > 2021 was a record-breaking year with a total fundraising income of €357m. And > The largest proportion of the movement’s programme expenditure €26.4m (35%) was spent towards Goal One. And > 45% of total income spent on Human rights research, advocacy, campaigning, raising awareness and education So ~20% (75m of 357m) was actually spent on real work, assuming everything reached end beneficiaries. Interesting way of showing 45% of expenditure clubbing multiple heads, while showing 2% expenditure on "Maintaining our democratic system of governance".
  - MichaelZuo 3y ago
    Yikes, only 20% going to actual end beneficiaries is pretty low.
  - PoignardAzur 3y ago
    I'm not sure your math holds up, though. Among other things, it sounds like their income was higher than their expenditures, eg that they had some money left at the end of the year; so your "75m of 375m" ratio isn't quite right. Maybe I missed something.

stronglikedan 3y ago

These types of organizations have been faking images to gain sympathy since the dawn of photography, but now it just takes a person and a prompt, instead of an entire production team.