• VTOMAN FLASHSPEED PRO 3600 Power Station at CES 2025: Revolutionizing Outdoor Power
    www.yankodesign.com
    Outdoor enthusiasts, rejoice! The VTOMAN FLASHSPEED PRO 3600 is here to power up your adventures like never before. Whether youre exploring the wilderness, embarking on a road trip, or setting up camp under the stars, this power station ensures you stay connected. Its designed to meet the demands of modern adventurers, offering a reliable and portable energy solution.Imagine the freedom of having a powerful energy source at your fingertips, no matter where you are. The FLASHSPEED PRO 3600 combines cutting-edge technology with a sleek design, making it a must-have for anyone who loves the great outdoors. With this power station, you can charge your devices, run appliances, and keep the lights onall while enjoying nature. At CES 2025, we sat down with VTOMAN representative Zachary Harris to get the lowdown on the newest star of their diverse lineup that truly demonstrates the brands commitment to making energy accessible, efficient, and sustainable.Designer: VTOMANElegant and Durable DesignJust one look and you know that this isnt your average portable power station. The FLASHSPEED PRO 3600 is a visual masterpiece, boasting smooth lines and a modern aesthetic that blends seamlessly into any setting. Its sleek design is not only about looks. Its built to withstand the rigors of outdoor use. The dark gray and yellow color scheme adds a touch of sophistication, making it a stylish addition to your gear. If you ever wanted a futuristic-looking, cyberpunk-theme power station, then VTOMANs got your number.Ergonomics and ease of use are at the forefront of its design. A large display screen makes it convenient to see all necessary information at a glance, while also complementing that high-tech character in the overall design. The suitcase-style build, complete with a comfortable rubber handle, ensures easy transport. Crafted from impact-resistant polymer materials, its both lightweight and durable, weighing only around 80 lbs.VTOMANs ethos is summarized in the slogan Mastering New Energy Your Way, explains Harris, which explains the companys diverse range of products, from jump starters to portable power stations. With its durable yet stylish design and a rich assortment of features, the FLASHSPEED PRO 3600 best exemplifies the companys mission to meet the equally diverse needs of todays consumers and their lifestyles. Whatever you need to get powered, you can get powered, says Harris. Whether youre hiking through rugged terrain or setting up camp, this power station is designed to be your reliable companion.Feature-Packed for Every NeedThe FLASHSPEED PRO 3600 is a powerhouse with a 3096Wh battery capacity, expandable to 6192Wh. This ensures you have enough power for all your needs, from short camping trips to extended off-grid adventures. Its impressive capacity makes it ideal for powering a wide range of devices, from smartphones to high-wattage appliances, everything you need to live comfortably even outdoors. It even has a powerful lamp with four different light settings so that youll never have to stumble in the dark.V-Beyond Technology sets this power station apart, enabling it to power devices up to 7200W. This means you can run refrigerators, air conditioners, and power tools with ease. And yes, that includes your hair dryer, too! With no less than 15 ports and two car jumpers, this portable station has yet to meet a device it cant juice up. The rapid recharge technology further enhances its usability, with a full recharge time of just two hours, ensuring minimal downtime during your adventures.Built for the OutdoorsThe FLASHSPEED PRO 3600 is designed to brave the elements. With an IP65 waterproof rating, it offers protection against dust, water, and other environmental factors. Its durable shell and innovative rain-shelter panel make it an ideal choice for outdoor enthusiasts who demand reliability and durability in their gear.Intelligent Charging Scene Switching optimizes power output based on connected devices. This smart feature enhances energy efficiency while ensuring stable performance. With 14 outlets, including AC, USB, and DC, the FLASHSPEED PRO 3600 offers versatile charging options. It can be rapidly charged via solar, car, or wall outlet, making it indispensable during blackouts.With a suitcase design for easy transportation and two off-road rear wheels that prevent the power station from accidentally rolling away, you could almost say that the VTOMAN FLASHSPEED PRO 3600 was born to be outdoors. It empowers you to be and do whatever you want outdoors as if you were indoors. Whether thats watching TV, powering a car fridge, or even making a film, the FLASHSPEED PRO 3600 is more than ready to provide the power you need for the task. We could even be having this interview outdoors! jokes Harris.Sustainability and Safety at Its CoreVTOMAN integrates environmental consciousness into the FLASHSPEED PRO 3600s design. Using recyclable materials and energy-saving components, it offers a responsible choice for eco-conscious users. The ability to recharge with solar panels further reduces reliance on fossil fuels, aligning with sustainable energy practices and helping to reduce your carbon footprint.Safety is paramount with the SuperSafe LIFEBMS System. This proprietary 10-layer safety mechanism includes temperature regulation, battery health monitoring, and short circuit prevention. Users can trust the FLASHSPEED PRO 3600 to deliver safe and reliable power, no matter the conditions. Its advanced safety features ensure peace of mind during every use.Exploring VTOMANs Power SolutionsFlashSpeed 1500VTOMAN continues to push the boundaries of portable power with its FlashSpeed series. The FlashSpeed 1500 offers ultra-fast charging and additional features like UPS and low-noise operation. Its flat top design is perfect for stacking, while V-Beyond Technology supports high-wattage appliances, making it a versatile addition to your power arsenal. Its portable and lightweight design pairs perfectly with its compatibility with VTOMANs solar panel units, making the fear of dead gadgets outdoors a thing of the past. As long as you have the sun, says Harris, you can keep going.FlashSpeed 600For those seeking compact solutions, the FlashSpeed 600 is lightweight and versatile. With PD100W Type-C fast-charging, it reaches 80% charge in just one hour. It has 8 outlets and weighs only 15 lbs, making it ideal for diverse settings, while solar charging support makes it easy to get renewable energy in any location.FlashSpeed 300The FlashSpeed 300 is even more portable, offering fast charging and solar support in a 7-pound package but still boasting seven outlets for all your charging needs. With support for PD100W Type-C fast charging, you can get the power station up to 80% in less than an hour so you can be out and running again in a flash. This seven in seven design, as Harris nicknamed it, is the perfect way to get your feet wet in the portable power station market.Innovative Battery TechnologyAll VTOMAN FlashSpeed series power stations are equipped with LiFePO4 batteries. Known for their durability, these batteries offer over 3000 life cycles to 80% of their original capacity. They provide enhanced safety, a wider operating temperature range, and a reduced environmental impact compared to standard lithium-ion batteries, making them a smart choice for eco-conscious adventurers.The SUPERSAFE LIFEBMS SYSTEM enhances battery safety and stability. With up to 10 battery protection modes, it ensures safe operation by protecting against overcharging, over-discharging, and short circuits. This dedication to safety and innovation makes VTOMAN a leader in portable power solutions, providing peace of mind on every adventure. You can just power up, feel safe, and be free, says Harris.Embrace the Power of VTOMANThe VTOMAN FLASHSPEED PRO 3600 and its FlashSpeed series companions redefine whats possible in portable power. Designed for those who love the outdoors, these power stations provide reliable, sustainable energy solutions. Whether youre camping, road-tripping, or preparing for emergencies, VTOMAN ensures youre always powered and ready for the next adventure.Imagine the possibilities with VTOMAN by your side. From powering up a campsite to ensuring your devices are always charged, the FLASHSPEED PRO 3600 is your ticket to endless adventures. With its cutting-edge technology and user-friendly design, its the ultimate power solution for modern explorers seeking freedom and convenience. And with the trend going toward the use of more renewable sources of energy and off-grid lifestyles, VTOMAN is in the perfect position to help people master this new kind of green energy the way they want and need it.The post VTOMAN FLASHSPEED PRO 3600 Power Station at CES 2025: Revolutionizing Outdoor Power first appeared on Yanko Design.
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  • Rainbow Wool's fun identity is pure joy
    www.creativebloq.com
    New initiative, branded by Hey Studio, is the warm hug we need this January.
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  • How Wildfire Smoke Affects Your HealthAnd How to Protect Yourself
    www.wired.com
    Exposure to smoke is dangerous regardless of your health statusso follow these steps to limit the risk.
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  • Can Your Car Be Your Friend?
    www.wired.com
    Automakers are showing off whizz-bang tech for vehicle interiors meant to reshape drivers relationships with their cars.
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  • Global Warming Is Wreaking Havoc on the Planets Water Cycle
    www.wired.com
    In 2024, natural disasters related to variations in the water cycle caused more than 8,700 deaths and at least $550 billion of economic loss.
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  • Meta Goes MAGA Mode + a Big Month in A.I. + HatGPT
    www.nytimes.com
    I think this set of changes that the company announced this week are the most important series of policy changes that they have made in the past five years.
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  • The best CES 2025 Mac and iPhone accessories you need to see
    www.macworld.com
    MacworldThere are many varied and even crazy products launched or demoed at the giant Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas every January. We picked out 8 cool CES announcements every Apple fan will want to buy, and here we ceremoniously select our absolute favorites from the show floor. Trying not to be distracted by AI robots, body scanners, and a spoon that supposedly makes your food taste better, we walked the miles of halls to find the best new Mac- and iPhone-friendly accessory products announced at this years CES.Anker 140W ChargerFoundryEveryone who buys an iPhone needs to bring their own USB-C wall charger, and while theyve gotten smaller and more powerful over the years, they still look pretty ugly and ungainly plugged into your wall. Ankers new compact and powerful four-port 140W USB-C Charger helps restore some of your home or office aesthetics by placing all four of its ports on the underside so that the cables hang down vertically. This should also make the cables and the charger itself less prone to falling out of the power socket if pulled or knocked.With a maximum 140W output, it can fast-charge PD 3.1 laptops such as the 16-inch MacBook Pro. There are three USB-C ports and one legacy USB-A for older cables. It also offers a color smart display that showcases real-time power output and remaining power for each port. It costs $90/90 and is available now in either silver or gray.Ugreen Nexode 500W 6-Port GaN Desktop ChargerSimon Jary / FoundryUSB-C wall chargers are small and powerful but when you need a lot of power you require a desktop charger with a proper power supply. In the past we have reviewed a desktop charger with a maximum power output of 300W, but Ugreen has now trumped that and some with its announcement of the worlds first 500W GaN charger at CES.The top USB-C port can output at a mighty 240W (PD 3.1), again a first in the hands of Macworld reviewers. It can charge up to six devices simultaneously, and Ugreen claims that this charger is powerful enough even for power-hungry devices such as e-bikes. Plugable UD-7400PD Docking StationPlugableIt might seem greedy to connect five external displays to your MacBook, but some Mac users might actually need it. For those people, its now possiblePlugable has released the worlds first five-screen DisplayLink docking station for your MacBook.Of course, you dont have to connect five displays, the dock is suitable for two or three extra independent screens as well, with a mix of ports that gives flexible solutions for video, data, and power. The Plugable UD-7400PD has two HDMI ports and three 10Gbps USB-C ports that can handle video connections, as well as another 30W USB-C port, two 10Gbps USB-A ports, 2.5Gb Ethernet, and an audio socket.As it uses DisplayLink software even the usually display-shy plain (non-Pro/Max) M1 and M2 MacBooks can take over your working space with quintuple monitors. Read more on our tests of the best DisplayLink docks and how this third-party software solves some big Apple display limitations.It is expected to become available in March at a cost of around $235.Revodok Max 2131 Thunderbolt 5 Docking StationSimon Jary / FoundryApple is first to market again with a mainstream computer, the M4 Mac mini and M4 Pro/Mac MacBooks, that boast the latest version of the super-fast Thunderbolt 5 data, video, and power connector. But to make full use of Thunderbolt 5s bidirectional data-transfer speeds of up to 80Gbps and 120Gbps display bandwidth, you need some devices that support it, and Ugreen showed off its forthcoming Thunderbolt 5 docking station at CES.The Revodok Max 2131 Thunderbolt 5 Docking Station supports single-screen 8K resolution at 60Hz or dual-screen 4K at 144Hz. It features 13 ports including three Thunderbolt 5 ports: one upstream to the computer and two downstream for extra devices. Its not coming till later this year, so if you cant wait, check out the best Thunderbolt 4 docks for Mac.OWC Thunderbolt 5 HubSimon Jary / FoundryIf you dont want a full docking station but still need a bunch of 80/120Gbps Thunderbolt 5 ports, OWC newest hub has four speedy Thunderbolt 5 ports and an extra 10Gbps USB-C port.Thunderbolt 5 is up to two times faster than Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 and can provide an incredible 120Gbps for higher display bandwidth needs. Even if your computer doesnt yet have Thunderbolt 5, the technology is backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 4, Thunderbolt 3, USB4 and USB-C devices.The OWC Thunderbolt 5 Hub delivers up to 140W to fast-charge any MacBook and is available now for $190.Satechi M4 Mac mini HubSatechiApples products are notoriously difficult to internally customize, and when the Mac mini was found to be lacking front-facing ports along came Satechis matching Mac mini Stand and Hub to add a bunch of ports where users demanded them. Apple rectified its front-port oversight when it released its latest M4 Mac mini with front-facing USB-C ports, but Satechi has created a new matching hub that adds back three legacy USB-A ports (two at 10Gbps and one 480Mbps) and an SD Card reader.This time Satechi has fixed a different problemthe M4 hub features a cutout that enables easy access to the minis power switch. It also raises the mini slightly with bottom heat-dissipating vents and a recessed top area for optimal cooling. The new Satechi M4 Stand & Hub also includes an SSD enclosure supporting up to 4TB of NVMe storage, so you can add fast storage without having an external drive hogging one of the Macs ports. The Satechi Mac Mini M4 Stand & Hub with SSD Enclosure will be available for $100 in February.ESR HaloLock MagMouse Wireless MouseSimon Jary / FoundryWe have to admit, we werent expecting to see a mouse that can magnetically clamp to the top of your laptop at CES. The ESR MagMouse does just that. Sadly its magnetism doesnt extend to wireless charging, but it does boast a handy built-in retractable USB-C cable. Take a look at our other recommendations in our best Mac mice roundup.ESR expects the MagMouse to ship in April.BoostCharge Power Bank 20K with Integrated CableSimon Jary / FoundryColorful? Check. Powerful? Check? Portable? Check. This new 20000mAh power bank from Belkin can recharge your MacBook and/or your phone and other USB-C or Thunderbolt devices without needing to bring along a separate cable, as it comes with its own built in cable that tidily tucks away when not in use.There are additional USB-C and USB-A ports that allow for charging up to three devices simultaneously. The BoostCharge Power Bank 20K can charge at 30W, which is perfect for the newest iPhones. Its a little slowalthough still usablefor a MacBook Pro but fine for a MacBook Air.It will be available in April in a range of colorsblack, white, blue, and pinkand has its casing made with 90 percent recycled plastics. Go here for more of the best MacBook power bank options.Torras PolarCircle Qi2 Mag-Safe ChargerSimon Jary / FoundryTorras makes some great iPhone cases but we were particularly taken with its PolarCircle Qi2 Mag-Safe Charger which uses an advanced TEC semiconductor cooling to maintain optimal charging temperatures during the charging process, preventing overheating and ensuring efficient charging. It can reduce the charging temperature by up to 77F.As a charger, it uses Qi2 for fast 15W wireless charging. Just like the Torras phone cases, this cooling wireless charger features a 360-degree rotating stand so you can catch up on your streaming or make a FaceTime call while efficiently charging your iPhone. See Macworlds recommended best MagSafe chargers for more options while you wait for this one to arrive.Romoss Solar Power Bank 30000mAh 65W Solar ChargerSimon Jary / FoundryKeeping a phone cool should make charging more efficient but there are times when the heat of the Sun can help, too. This power bank from Romoss features six removable solar panels for self-charging in the wild. The power bank has an impressive 30000mAh capacity yet is lightweight and portableit weighs 22oz (628g). The solar panels weigh 17.4oz (494g).Belkin PowerGripSimon Jary / FoundryiPhone users who crave a retro tech touch can add this cute but mutlfunctional gadget that turns your phone into an old-school digital camera. Enjoy the thrill of pushing a physical button on the Belkin PowerGrip to take photos and hold it like an old-school point-and-click camera.The PowerGrip is much more than a camera gimmick, however, as it includes a high-capacity (10000mAh) power bank with 7.5W MagSafe-compatible wireless charging, USB-C output ports, a retractable USB-C charging cable, and LED screen to show battery percentage. As if that isnt fun enough, the PowerGrip comes in five colorsPowder Blue, Sand, Yellow, Pepper, and Lavenderand will be available in May.Moft Trackable Wallet StandFoundryMoft makes some great foldable wallet stands and has now gone one better with a 1.1mm, 2.3oz slim MagSafe wallet stand that includes Apples FindMy tracker functionality. The 80mAh battery is rechargeable. My colleague Roman Loyola described it as an origami AirTag. It will be available in May for $49.99. Check out Macworlds collection of the best iPhone 16 cases.
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  • At CES 2025, everyone wants to be just like Apple
    www.macworld.com
    MacworldIn the world of sports, its sometimes easier to impress by not playing. When youre in the game, everything you do is judged and all your mistakes happen under a harsh spotlight. But get yourself dropped behind some other poor bloke now getting picked apart for their mistakes, youll find that all is forgiven or, better yet, forgotten. Lets get David Price back in the game, theyll say. Im sure we were wrong about him being physically incompetent and afraid of the ball.I often wonder if some variant of this mindset is what leads Apple to snub trade shows and conferences when it has the resources to attend every event on the planet if it wants. Lots of new tech products made their debut at CES in Las Vegas this month, for example, but there were none at all by the industrys highest-profile brand. And yet, in their absence, Apples products picked up some of the most positive coverage all the same.Take poor old Dell, which at CES announced a major rebranding for its PC lines. Instead of XPS, Inspiron, and Latitude, the companys machines will be branded as Dell, Dell Pro, and Dell Pro Maxterms that are familiar to customers because theyre inspired, shall we charitably say, by the iPhone. The result? Mockery for Dell and a bunch of headlines that plug Apples products and make the Cupertino company sound like a trendsetter.I rather feel for Dell, which clearly got this one wrong and doesnt seem to know how to make it right. Apple has a tendency to do very difficult and complicated things and make them look easy and simple. When rivals follow suit they trip over their shoelaces by adding, in this case, needlessly complicating sub-brands like Plus and Premium. In any case, simplicity isnt about your choice of words, its about the fundamental structure of your product portfolio. (Incidentally, Apple doesnt always get these things right either. But of course, its mistakes are forgotten when someone else is in the spotlight.)Nvidia, meanwhile, was doing its own Apple impersonation elsewhere in Las Vegas: the firms Project Digits supercomputer had barely landed on the CES show floor before it was getting described as a Mac mini clone, and not without good reason. Its far more powerful (and correspondingly far more expensive) than the Mac mini, but the palmtop design is extremely familiar, as is the focus on AI. And it would be hard to imagine that the words Like a Mac mini, except were not uttered at some point in its development cycle.NvidiaEven some of the more positive headlines were marred, for Apples rivals, by invidious comparisons with the absent giant. Asus got pretty much everything right with the Zenbook A14, but suffered the indignity of seeing this heralded as little more than a MacBook Air competitor. The company, in fact, played up to the comparison, joking that it had considered the name Zenbook Air. But I always regard this strategy, which in movies and TV shows is known as lampshading, as cheating. Joking that your design is unoriginal doesnt change the fact that it is.Whether or not theyre prepared to admit it, Apples rivals spent much of CES 2025 trying to copy its moves. Instead of using its absence from the show as an opportunity to present something different, they delivered more of the sameonly with PC chips, worse software, and disastrous branding. Whereas Apple got a bunch of uncritical PR without doing anything.Its often said that Apple doesnt innovate out of thin air. Rather, it bides its time and lets other companies build up a market before swooping in at the crucial moment and grabbing the revenue. I would agree that the company is rarely first to enter a market. But what it often does is create the first iconic product in a market, the one which defines what that market represents in the popular consciousnessand, all too often, in the minds of its competitors too. After the launch of an iPhone or a MacBook Air, rivals struggle to envision an alternative that doesnt begin with Apples offering and then iterate from that.The irony is that if the companies really wanted to be like Apple, the best thing would be not to turn up at CES at all. But when the star player is away, its simply too tempting to rush onto the field and do your best to impress the fans.
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  • Meta puts the Dead Internet Theory into practice
    www.computerworld.com
    Metas mission statementis to build the future of human connection and the technology that makes it possible.According to Meta, the future of human connection is basically humans connecting with AI.The company has already rolled out and is working to radically expand tools that enable real users to create fake users on the platform on a massive scale. Meta is hoping to convince its 3 billion users that chatting with, commenting on the posts of, and generally interacting with software that pretends to be human is a normal and desirable thing to do.Meta treats the dystopian Dead Internet Theory the belief that most online content, traffic, and user interactions are generated by AI and bots rather than humans as a business plan instead of a toxic trend to be opposed.In the old days, when Meta was called Facebook, the company wrapped every new initiative in the warm metaphorical blanket of human connectionconnecting people to each other.Now, it appears Meta wants users to engage with anyone or anythingreal or fake doesnt matter, as long as theyre engaging, which is to say spending time on the platforms and money on the advertised products and services.In other words, Meta has so many users that the only way to continue its previous rapid growth is to build users out of AI. The good news is that Metas Dead Internet projects are not going well.Metas aim to get people talking and interacting with non-human AI has taken several forms.The Fake Celebrities ProjectIn September 2023, Meta launched AI chatbots featuring celebrity likenesses, including Kendall Jenner, MrBeast, Snoop Dogg, Charli DAmelio, and Paris Hilton.Users largely rejected and ignored the chatbots, and Meta ended the program.The Fake Influencer Engagement ProgramMeta is testing a program called Creator AI,which enables influencers to create AI-generated bot versions of themselves. These bots would be designed to look, act, sound, and write like the influencers who made them, and would be trained on the wording of their posts.The influencer bots would engage in interactive direct messages and respond to comments on posts, fueling the unhealthy parasocial relationships millions already have with celebrities and influencers on Meta platforms. The other benefit is that the influencers could outsource fan engagement to a bot.(Here at meta, we engage with your fans so you dont have to!)And Meta has even started testing a new feature that automatically adds AI images of users (based on their profile pics) privately into their Instagram feeds, presumably to drive demand and acclimate the public to the idea of turning themselves into AI.The Fake Users InitiativeMeta launched its AI Studio in the United States in July 2024; it empowers users without AI skills to create user accounts of invented fake users, complete with profile pics, voices, and personalities.The idea is that these computer-generated users have profiles that exist just like human-user profiles, which can interact with real people on Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and the web.Meta plans to enable these personas to do the same on Metas metaverse virtual reality platforms.A senior Meta executive recently defended the AI-powered fake user concept. We expect these AIs to actually, over time, exist on our platforms, kind of in the same way that accounts do, Connor Hayes, vice president of product for generative AI at Meta, said in aFinancial Timesarticle. Theyll have bios and profile pictures and be able to generate and share content powered by AI on the platform.... Thats where we see all of this going.Hayes added that while hundreds of thousands of such characters have already been created by users, most have been kept private (defeating their purpose of driving engagement).The Fake Experiences FollyMeta also plans to release its text-to-video generation software to content creators. This will essentially enable users to place themselves into AI-generated videos, where they can be depicted doing things they never did in places theyve never been.The Fake Facebook Folks FiascoAbout a year ago, Meta created and managed 28 fake-user accounts on Facebook and Instagram. The profiles contained bios and AI-generated profile pictures and posted AI-generated content (responsibly labeled as both AI and managed by Meta) on which any user could comment. Users could also chat with the bots.Recently, the public started noticing these accounts and didnt like what they saw. Social media mobs shamed Meta into deleting the accounts.One strain of criticism was that the fake users simulated human stereotypes, which were found to not represent the communities they were pretending to be part of.Also, as with most AI-generated content, the output was often dull, generic, corporate-sounding, wrong, and/or offensive. It didnt get much engagement, which, for Meta, was the entire purpose for the effort. (Another criticism was that users couldnt block the account; Meta blamed a bug for the problem.)AI slop is a problem; Meta sees an opportunityAll thisintentional AI fakerytakes place on platforms where the biggest and most harmful quality is arguablybottomless pools of spammy AI slopgenerated by users without content-creation help from Meta.The genre uses bad AI-generated, often-bizarre images to elicit a knee-jerk emotional reaction and engagement.In Facebook posts, these engagement bait pictures are accompanied by strange, often nonsensical, and manipulative text elements. The more successful posts have religious, military, political, or general pathos themes (sad, suffering AI children, for example).The posts often include weird words. Posters almost always hashtag celebrity names. Many contain information about unrelated topics, like cars. Many such posts ask, Why dont pictures like this ever trend?These bizarre posts anchored in bad AI, bad taste, and bad faith are rife on Facebook.You can block AI slop profiles. But they just keep coming believe me, I tried. Blocking, reporting, criticizing, and ignoring have zero impact on the constant appearance of these posts, as far as I can tell.And the apparent reason is that Metas algorithm is rewarding them.Meta is not only failing to stop these posts, but is essentially paying the content creators to make them andusing its algorithms to boost them. Spammy AI slop falls perfectly into line with Metas apparent conclusion that any garbage is good if it drives engagement.The AI content crisisAI content, in general, is a crisis online for a very simple reason: Social media users, content creators, would-be influencers, advertisers, and marketers dont quite seem to realize that AI-generated content, for lack of a better term, sucks.AI-generated text, for example, uses repetitive, generic language that doesnt flow and doesnt have a voice. Word choices tend to be off, and the AI usually cant tell the difference between whats important and whats irrelevant.AI-generated images are especially problematic. According to multiple studies, people feel more negatively about AI-generated images than real photos.Social networks are filled with AI-generated images. Billions have been created using text-to-image AI tools since 2022, many posted online.To quantify: A year ago, some71% of images shared on social media in the UShad been AI-generated. In Canada, that figure was 77%. In addition, 26% of marketers were using AI to create marketing images, and that percentage rose to 39% for marketers posting on social.According to the 2024 Imperva Bad Bot Report by Thales,bots accounted for 49.6% of all global internet trafficin 2023. One-third (32%) of internet traffic was attributed to malicious bots. And 18% came from good bots (search engine crawlers, for example).In 2023, only 50.4% of internet traffic was human activity. Now, in the first month of 2025, human traffic is definitely a minority of all internet activity.The Dead Internet Theory people are not only conspiracy theorists, theyre also ahead of the curve. If the theory holds that a majority of online activity is by AI, bots, and agents, then the theory is now objectively true.(The theory offers a host of reasons for that outcome that have not been proven true. Proponents believe bots and AI are intentionally created to manipulate algorithms, boost search results, and control public perception.)Meta cheerfully boasts about its intentional creation of AI bots, but mainly to drive engagement.Metas fake-user initiatives remind me of its failed metaverse programs.As with the Dead Internet Theory, the metaverse concept was a dystopian nightmare dreamed up by novelists as a warning to mankind. The Dead Internet Theory is a conspiracy theory that attempts to explain how the internet went horribly wrong.But to Meta, the metaverse and Dead Internet theory are product roadmaps.Meta is proving itself to be an anti-human company thats working hard to get people away from the real world and trapped for many hours each day, going nowhere, doing nothing, and interacting with no one.Meta will fail. The public will reject its dystopian goals.But the rest of us should learn from their bad example. What the public really wants something Meta used to understand is human connection: people connecting to other people. Advertising, articles, posts, comments, and chats made by people rather than bots are becoming harder to find and, as such, also more valuable. Because a connection with nobody is no connection at all.
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