Sure, AI-generated content might be transforming the internet into an error-ridden, incomprehensible garbage heap. But if it’s any consolation, at least we can laugh at the AI-generated trash fire in the meantime.
Introducing: The Enlightened Mindset, a website that claims to be “Exploring the World of Knowledge and Understanding” through clickbaity articles that appear to be AI-generated from top to bottom, from the words to the contributors to — perhaps most notably — an absolutely unhinged array of AI-spun imagery.
First caught by an eagle-eyed Twitter user, we can’t express enough how spectacularly wretched these images are.
wanted to know the ideal hair length for waxing and was immediately shown a 100% AI-generated article, including images pic.twitter.com/ABoBJhpXnV
— SLUG (@generalslug) June 14, 2023
Some of them, especially those attempting to depict realistic people, are just total nightmare fuel. The pictures embedded into a “profile” of the actor “who plays Shrek in the musical,” for example, are like Shrek meets the Green Goblin meets Slimer in “Ghostbusters.” An image purporting to showcase a “Discussion with Other Actors on Whether They Watch Their Own Films” is equally disturbing.
The AI system also sometimes attempts to churn out pictures of real celebrities, resulting in some unfortunate, AI-garbled representations of people like actors Leslie Odom Jr. and Julia Stiles. It’s a particularly bizarre unnecessary use for the tech, considering that there are countless real images of celebs available for free online.
Where the AI really seems to shine, however, is in graphics that include words. Text-to-image AI systems are notorious for their inability to render coherent lettering, and this website makes that flaw clear in articles like “Organizing Creative Projects: Essential Tips to Follow,” which, by the included chart, teaches you how to be “crreettiive,” and the notably meta “What Problems Can Machine Learning Solve? Exploring the Benefits and Challenges,” where helpful charts show you how “LAUNG MATUUMMING” and “LAS KIN MAKING” work.
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We’re also big fans of some very LinkedInCore charts that some of the site’s business — or, if you will, “BASINESS” — articles feature, which have some real HustleGPT-speaking-in-tongues vibes. And we must say, we did find some pictures depicting the feeling of anxiety that are at least energetically accurate.
more from this site pic.twitter.com/lyHO5Chjyl
— SLUG (@generalslug) June 14, 2023
Just for fun, here’s the site’s attempt at graphics about cryptocurrency:
sorry one more pic.twitter.com/omV3pF5zfA
— SLUG (@generalslug) June 14, 2023
Also, as a side note, it’s probably worth pointing out that all of the articles in question were written by the site’s most prolific writer, who boasts a cartoon avatar and goes by the very real-sounding name “Happy Sharer.”
Attempts to contact the site’s owners for more information were unsuccessful, because they listed no contact information.
To be fair, we already deal with the online prevalence of bots, and SEO clickbait spam has been alive and well for years. But if a scroll through The Enlightened Mindset shows us anything, it’s that introducing generative AI into this already thriving marketplace is a bit like taking a bot’s quill-and-ink away and handing them a printing press. It’s illegible trash en masse, and it’s likely just getting started.
Anyway. Excuse us while we pour a cuppa and explore the Enlightened Mindset world of knowledge and understanding by examining the “Feasibility of a Robot Hagrid in Film and Television.”
More on AI: OpenAI Warned Microsoft That Its AI Is Absolutely Terrible at Telling the Truth
