Why Read: It's long been said that humans are the product of social networks, not the customer. Today, corporate ownership shifts have turned social-media platforms from the world's town square to an all-encompassing AI marketing machine. - bba

The world's top social-media platforms shape public perception and affect political outcomes by maximizing the reach of the most polarizing posts to drive engagement and keep users locked in an endless scroll.

The world's top AI companies are hyping lies about LLMs being superhuman, terrifying, and unstoppable.

Unfortunately for the humans trying to figure out how to use AI in their jobs and companies, they're the same companies.

I don't mean that figuratively. A Venn diagram of the world's top social-media companies and the world's top AI companies would make very nearly a circle:

In global social media, there are a few exceptions - Snapchat, NextDoor, Reddit, and Bluesky - though their monthly active-user numbers pale by comparison:

Of the billions of people regularly logging on to these platforms, upwards of40%-50% regularly get their news there:

But the average person is still overwhelmingly dubious about AI. They don't really want to use it, and they don't generally think it's going to make their lives better across any category - as indicated by these findings from Pew Research:

Nearly every social-media platform shaping the future of AI has a financial incentive to maximize hype and encourage adoption across consumers and businesses.

In some ways, since they're operating in the same corporate entity, it would be a violation of their fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders not to.