As I type this, there’s a blank editing block below that looks like this:
I have never used machine learning tools to write my words, nor do I ever intend to, but our lives are drowned in not just the buzzword, but the tools themselves. As DJs, we even have “A.I.’ built into our DJ apps with audio separation and various smart library tools. And just a cursory glance at our social media accounts reveals a deluge of ChatGPT text, A.I. deepfakes and bullshit memes.
There’s been a growing theory that this explosion in bots, A.I. content, and SEO farming has created a Dead Internet… a barren wasteland devoid of usefulness and human interaction, which was
How does this relate to DJing?
In 2024, it’s nearly impossible to separate this discipline from our online presence. Whether you’re live streaming, cultivating a following in clubs, or running a mobile DJ business, your worth is (at least partly) determined by your popularity online. Even running a DJ tech magazine/website, we have to compete against people that will use ChatGPT as a shortcut to pumping out meaningless content to keep the algorithms happy.
The problem is that the more information is created by AI, the less value information will be. And even when it uses human created information, it is quite often wrong, because it doesn’t understand sarcasm, or just plain bad advice. And when our social media followings are filled with fake accounts, catfish porn, low effort content, or worse, we just don’t reach the real, human people that actually care about our efforts and will support us.
It’s why there’s been a push in marketing to cultivate mailing lists for emails, rather than waste time on social media.
Is there any hope?
The biggest hurdle to fixing the problem is making sure we are aware of what’s happening. It doesn’t even matter how accurate the Dead Internet Theory is… it’s undeniable there is a problem with the value of the information, but as more and more AI content is created, the machine is feeding off itself, the more nonsense will be made and, eventually, A.I. will be as worthless as out-of-date meat.
We won’t know for sure what the future will bring, or how long destruction will be wrought before it dies, but the bubble we’re seeing will burst, and what will hopefully be left are the parts that are useful to humanity, not the bits that take away the things we love doing.
And as a creator, I really hope this is sooner rather than later, for the sakes of so many people’s livelihoods.
Over to you
Do you use machine learning tools for creativity? What do you think the future of the internet will be?
