AI and The End of Social Media

[Abu Hadi]

Bismillah Ta'la

I have been on this site since 2006, i.e. 17 years. There are actually only a few members here that were on at that time and remember those days. A little back story about me. 

I am currently 51 years old. It sounds strange for me to say it because most people who meet me think I am in my mid 30s because I don't smoke / drink / exercise regularly and try to eat healthy. I also fast on a regular basis and fasting is said to slow down / reverse the aging process. I am just saying this, not to brag, just so that people understand my point of view on this. Most of the people on this site are younger than me and most of the people that I work with are also younger than me. 

In 2006, the Internet was a much different place. There was this unbounded optimism about how the Internet and social media would change the world and give a chance for the 'little guy' to have an influence on the media and shape a message to the masses. There was this hope that the Internet and social media would democratize the access to information and people would become more intelligent and informed about the world and events and this would lead to other good effects on society. 

What many younger people don't understand is that before the Internet and social media (which began in its current form around the year 2000), it was very difficult to get access to accurate information about many things because information was controlled by big media companies (CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, BBC, etc) and the books that were available in the English language were published by a handful of publishers, most of which were owned and controlled by the same big media companies. 

It was particularly difficult to get good information about Islam, and teaching of Ahl Al Bayt((عليه السلام)) in the English language. You either had to buy a book (a paper book) which could only be found in certain places like a Shia masjid (there were few in the US at that time) or a conference, or order online or thru the mail and hope that when you sent the person money, they would actually send you the book. There were also a few places that did give lectures in English and there was starting to be some satellite channels like Ahl Al Bayt T.V. that were starting up. This was the environment that existed when sites like ShiaChat were first started. 

This is why I originally came to this site in 2006. I believed, and I still believe, that the founders of this site had good intentions, which was to spread good and accurate information regarding Islam, and particularly Shiism and allow discussion around certain topics which were not well understood by the masses of people but were important to understand. This 'golden age' of social media and the Internet, where you could actually get good information and where there were lots of sincere discussions by real people about important topics lasted from about 2006 (when social media started becoming popular) to 2018, when AI and bots came on to the scene in a significant way. I believe that now, in 2023, that 'golden age' of social media is over.

The reason is because as we move forward, you will see less and less of 'real people' on social media and more bots until most of what you read, and most of even what you hear and see (due to 'generative' AI like Chat GPT) will be fake.  This generated media and posts by these bots will be indistinguishable from posts by real people due to these bots being trained on large language models (technical details which can be discussed later). Once this is the norm, and it is already starting to become the norm, you will see people abandoning social media (because the content will entirely lack credibility) and 'reverting' back to the 'pre Internet' days of getting information primarily thru books and thru conversations with real people. I don't think social media will go away completely and it might be around in some form (like as reference material in some cases) but it won't be 'the way' for people to discuss topics and get information like it is today. 

So why am I writing this post ? Just to complain ? No, actually it's the opposite. Since this might be one of the last posts that is written by a real person (lol), I wanted to use it to give some sincere advice to my Shia brothers and sisters and particularly to my revert brothers and sisters who come to this site regularly. As I have said in the past, it is not what happens or what happens to you that defines you as a person because these are just circumstances and situations, they are not you. What defines 'you' is how you react to these circumstances and situations. Do you 'throw in the towel' and give up, become frustrated, go hide in a cave somewhere, or do you 'rise to the occasion' ? This is the only choice, we as human beings have, to react in a positive or a negative way to the situations we find ourselves in .

The first step in reacting in a 'positive' way is taking time to really understand the situation you are in. Not what you want it to be, but what it actually is. You can only react in a positive way when you understand the truth of the situation. So the first step is discovering the true situation by thinking and doing an assessment based on objective facts. 

After that, you need to think about a goal or an objective. What am I trying to accomplish ? Then how will I do it (i.e. a plan). 

As Muslims and as Shia, moving forward, obviously we want to understand our religion and understand what is going on in the world around us. We want to know the truth of the situation and understand the new events that will happen in the future and how we can benefit from them and avoid the harmful effects of them. We cannot rely on the Internet and Social media for this, as I have shown above. So how do we do it ? Here is my advice

1. Become a member of a real community. Not an online community, an actual community of real people who are supportive, honest, and share your beliefs and values. Noone can exist in this world alone. For revert brothers and sisters, I know this is especially difficult due to language and cultural barriers and differences. What you must realize is that this is your test that Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) has tested you with. This is a problem you need to solve. You can't solve it by sitting behind a computer or a phone screen. You actually need to get out in the real world and meet people (in person), make connections, and try to accomplish this with sincere effort. 

I can almost guarantee (unless you are extremely lucky) that there will be problems, issue. You will be insulted, disrespected, maybe even mocked or physically injured. All of these things have happened to me, personally on more than one occasion. This is part of life in this dunya. This is jihad fe sabilillah and the greater part of Jihad which cannot be avoided. You will be rewarded by Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) for you efforts in this way. At the same time, you will also find, if even a few, sincere and truthful brothers and sisters who will be your friends and allies and who will help you both in the world and the next, Insha'Allah. 

Even if you have to move, change jobs, go 'out of your comfort zone', etc, it is worth it. You will find that the more time you spend 'out of your comfort zone' the more you will accomplish and the more special and significant those good moments in life are. The good moments are really and truly good for those who strive in the way of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) and in the bad moments you will be given sabr and basirat (insight) from Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) that will help you get thru those. 

2. Spend most of your time reading books that you know are reliable sources and contemplate on these. First is the Holy Quran, and also books of hadith like Nahjul Balagha and similar books which are known to be authentic. FInd sincere brothers and sisters who you can have conversations with about these books and other related topics. 

3. Read and re read the Resalat of your marjaa and try to understand it. Ideally, you should read the Resalat of your marjaa cover to cover at least once per year, or once every two years. If you have questions, try to find answers from the office of the marjaa and don't rely on answers given on social media. 

I am not saying to abandon social media completely. You can glance at it every once in a while, but don't rely on it for anything significant. 

 

Edited April 25 by Abu Hadi

[Haji 2003]

1 hour ago, Abu Hadi said:

1. Become a member of a real community. Not an online community, an actual community of real people who are supportive, honest, and share your beliefs and values.

It is possible for the two to overlap. 

There have sometimes been groups of people on Shiachat that have met up in real life. I have been in phone contact with a handful. I'd imagine it would be possible to have 'verified human' accounts in the future.

 

[Abu Hadi]

5 minutes ago, Haji 2003 said:

It is possible for the two to overlap. 

There have sometimes been groups of people on Shiachat that have met up in real life. I have been in phone contact with a handful. I'd imagine it would be possible to have 'verified human' accounts in the future.

 

True. This takes time, effort, and energy. Not sure how much 'bandwidth' we have to devote to this. 

[AbdusSibtayn]

7 hours ago, Abu Hadi said:

There was this hope that the Internet and social media would democratize the access to information and people would become more intelligent and informed about the world and events and this would lead to other good effects on society. 

The 'democratization' of knowledge has also led to the demagogue-ization of knowledge, so that now every Zaid and Amr with access to an electronic device, internet connection and elementary communication skills feels entitled to have opinions on topics which he has no understanding of, and all opinions must be accorded a degree of validity just because they happen to exist in some corner of the internet, no matter how uninformed and wrong. 

'Freedom of opinions' has eaten into the 'freedom of well considered and informed opinions', because in the cacophony of entitled cries, engaging to learn is becoming increasingly difficult. 

[Haji 2003]

1 hour ago, AbdusSibtayn said:

now every Zaid and Amr with access to an electronic device, internet connection and elementary communication skills feels entitled to have opinions on topics

But surely we have all attended social events where people have felt entitled to mouth off? And if a few people expressed similar opinions it may have been possible that they arrived at those opinions independently.

This thread draws attention to the fact that at least in those situations we at least knew that that person was real. AI means that we can no longer be sure about the identity of the person we are speaking with online. And we may get the impression that a view is widely held because AI bots are deliberately trying to convey that impression.

[Guest Window]

I agree with this statement.

The internet used to be different. It used to be a fun place where people would post blurry pictures of themselves in ridiculous outfits. Now, it’s so toxic. Everyone’s diagnosing everyone with everything and getting anxiety and getting burned-out with too much stimulation from the internet. The internet has become a place where bullies thrive and share their stupid opinions and people take it as fact. 

[AbdusSibtayn]

On 4/25/2023 at 11:26 PM, Haji 2003 said:

But surely we have all attended social events where people have felt entitled to mouth off? And if a few people expressed similar opinions it may have been possible that they arrived at those opinions independently.

This thread draws attention to the fact that at least in those situations we at least knew that that person was real. AI means that we can no longer be sure about the identity of the person we are speaking with online. And we may get the impression that a view is widely held because AI bots are deliberately trying to convey that impression.

Social media has accentuated what was once a fringe phenomenon, that's what I meant. 

[Haji 2003]

1 hour ago, AbdusSibtayn said:

Social media has accentuated what was once a fringe phenomenon, that's what I meant. 

But surely of all people Muslims would be most aware of the acute significance of distinguishing between real and fake - given the whole science behind grading of hadiths?

I agree that social media and AI have created new kinds of challenges.

[AbdusSibtayn]

12 minutes ago, Haji 2003 said:

But surely of all people Muslims would be most aware of the acute significance of distinguishing between real and fake - given the whole science behind grading of hadiths?

I agree that social media and AI have created new kinds of challenges.

I greatly doubt this. The power of propaganda and narrative manufacturing must not be underestimated. When the very paragon (عليه السلام) of worshipping as one ought to was murdered in the mosque of Kufa, people wondered what he was doing in a masjid. Within five decades of the Prophet (S) 's own departure, the beheaded corpse of the grandson (عليه السلام) he'd fondle and pamper in public was trampled upon by horses. Replace AI bots with paid propagandists, and the threads from the two different eras will link perfectly. 

Edited May 3 by AbdusSibtayn

[Haji 2003]

On 5/3/2023 at 4:38 PM, AbdusSibtayn said:

Within five decades of the Prophet (S) 's own departure, the beheaded corpse of the grandson (عليه السلام) he'd fondle and pamper in public was trampled upon by horses.

That's exactly what I meant. The ability to construct false narratives has always been there, it's just that the methods have become different.