A few thoughts about generative AI and LinkedIn “bros.”*
- They both think of content as content, not as communication, relation, or expression.
- Their approaches homogenize everything, stripping out voice, intent, and humanity.
- Eventually, the system they promote results in a kind of heat death,** a state of mental and emotional equilibrium.
- The medium is the message. There’s nothing else there.
- If an algorithm privileges retaining users, it might (hypothetically, of course…) tilt towards users who aggressively promote retention and usage.
- The obvious parallel—the bros LOVE posting about AI. What better way to generate formulaic content for content’s sake?
* LI bros: Heavy LI posters (essentially always men of a certain generation) who promise to 10x everything, and provide you with frameworks, templates, courses, etc.
** Heat death: A hypothetical end state of any system, up to and including the Universe, in which energy is evenly distributed, at which point no change or work is possible.
