The 180th Block: Conspiracies, kidspiracies, conspiritualists
Po-tay-to, po-tah-to, po-'eh-'oh
This week…
Your reading time is about 6 minutes. Let’s start.
Hey, why not head to BBC Bitesize’s AI quiz and find out if you can tell the difference between AI-generated images and real photos? (Yes, the quizzes are for kids, but they use people and events from contemporary times and provide contextual information.)
And now, a selection of top stories on my radar, a few personal recommendations, and the chart of the week.
ICYMI: The Previous Block tried to keep up with the devil that is XTwitter, deepfakes, and press censorship. CORRECTION NOTICE: None notified.It’s a global climate solution — if it can get past conspiracy theories and NIMBYs
Julia Simon for NPR:
Yet the conspiracy theory that 15-minute cities are a way for the global elite to contain people in open-air prisons took off in the past year, says Jennie King, head of climate research and policy at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue in London, a nonprofit that studies extremism.
“Fifteen-minute cities is the latest victim in a broader trend,” King says. “The unifying theme of a lot of these attacks and conspiracies is that climate change is being used as a pretext to strip people of their civil liberties.”
Some prominent right-wing podcasters, including Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson and Joe Rogan, have brought up the conspiracy theory on their shows. Last month, Rogan talked about 15-minute cities on his show. “You’ll essentially be contained unless you get permission to leave,” Rogan said. “That’s the idea they're starting to roll out in Europe.”
I have heard a lot of different conspiracy theories, but this is a first for me. The Greater Kuala Lumpur area has several self-sufficient townships, some probably older than me, which function the same way a fifteen-minute city would, although mainly as a means to address traffic congestion (but certainly part of the climate solution as well). I have lived in at least a couple of these townships, and life was convenient.
How morbid curiosity can lead people to conspiracy theories
Joe Stubbersfield and Coltan Scrivner for The Conversation:
Do you like scary movies, true crime podcasts, or violent sports? Research has shown that a major part of the attraction is their appeal to morbid curiosity.
Engaging with frightening media and the emotions it creates in a safe setting can help people alleviate anxiety and build psychological resilience. However, our recent research, published in the British Journal of Psychology, shows that a heightened interest in learning about threats can also lead people to be interested in less constructive types of stories: conspiracy theories.
From blood-harvesting Satanists who stealthily run the world to shapeshifting alien lizards invading the world, conspiracy theories often offer alternative explanations of unsettling events. They all centre on a proposal that a malicious group of people is behind strange or political happenings. Conspiracy theories have another thing in common - they go against mainstream explanations and lack concrete evidence.
If the drive to seek out conspiracy theories is motivated by a desire to identify and understand potential threats, then we should expect interest in conspiracy theories to be linked with higher morbid curiosity.
I don’t like scary movies, true crime podcasts, or violent sports (wait, does rugby count?), so I think I’m okay. Hbu?
The dangerous myths sold by the conspiritualists
Derek Beres for Coda:
Spreading misinformation and even conspiracy theories has become commonplace in wellness spaces across social media. In a politically charged atmosphere addicted to brokering in binaries, good science is too often sacrificed at the altar of partisan opinion.
Pushing back against medical advancements from as far back as the 19th century has become a rallying cry for a growing number of today’s conspiritualist contrarians. Fear mongering about vaccinations is not the only entry point to this strange world of conspiracy and misinformation, in which predominantly white, middle- or upper-middle-class wellness influencers propagate and sell ideas and products with little to no oversight. In this world, humans are godlike creatures immune to viruses and cancers, while those who fall victim to illness and therefore the twisted machinations of society are but collateral damage.
How AI reduces the world to stereotypes
Victoria Turk for Rest of World:
For each prompt and country combination (e.g., “an Indian person,” “a house in Mexico,” “a plate of Nigerian food”), we generated 100 images, resulting in a data set of 3,000 images. The results show a hugely stereotypical view of the world. “An Indian person” is almost always an old man with a beard. “A Mexican person” is usually a man in a sombrero. Most of New Delhi’s streets are polluted and littered. In Indonesia, food is served almost exclusively on banana leaves.
What I read, listen, and watch…
I’m reading Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion by Bushra Rehman, a story of a young Pakistani American girl growing up in 1980s New York.
I’m listening to an episode of Conspirituality on Australia’s referendum to include Indigenous voices in parliament. (The country has since voted against it.)
I’m watching BBC World’s piece on how YouTube channels use AI to make videos recommended to children as “educational content” that includes false information.
Other curious links:
“Australia rejects Indigenous referendum in setback for reconciliation” by Praveen Menon, Lewis Jackson, and Wayne Cole for Reuters.
“When journalism is emptied of journalism” by Christian Wihtol for Nieman Storyboard.
“Fearing AI, fan fiction writers lock their accounts” by Morgan Sung for Tech Crunch.
“Inside the deadly instant loan app scam that blackmails with nudes” by Poonam Agarwal, Nupur Sonar, and Stephanie Hegarty for BBC World.
“How cricket became controlled by Hindu nationalists” by Karim Zidan for Sports Politika.
“Remote workers are more aware of cybersecurity risks than in-office employees: new study” by Joseph K. Nwankpa and Pratim Milton Datta for The Conversation.
“Acusado un universitario de alterar con inteligencia artificial miles de imágenes de alumnas para venderlas como pornografía” por Andrés Rodríez en El País.
« Une défiance envers la Françafrique » par Adib Bencherif dans La Presse.
Chart of the week
I'm trying to stick to my loose rule about always providing at least one positive AI story whenever I share any AI coverage. So here’s something from Press Gazette where Aisha Majid shows how Norway’s Aftenposten doubles its audio audience with AI-voiced articles:
Interestingly, many younger users come to the daily first through audio.
And one more thing
Re: the second story. Rugby is violent, event though it is a contact sport and not a combat sport. Its just not as *intentionally* violent I guess. I'm sure you already know that and just trying to placate yourself?
Thanks for the link! 🙏