Meet ‘Amelia’: the AI-generated British schoolgirl who is a far-right social media star (www.theguardian.com)
from MicroWave@lemmy.world to world@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 10:58
https://lemmy.world/post/42134870

The avatar, created to deter young people from extremism, has been subverted and is breaking out of niche online silos

Her name is Amelia, a purple-haired “goth girl” who proudly carries a mini union flag and appears to have a penchant for racism.

If you are unfamiliar with Amelia, the chances are you will soon encounter one viral meme or another inspired by her on Facebook or X, where her reputation is growing.

Videos of Amelia typically feature her walking through London, or the House of Commons, declaring her love for England and warning of the dangers of “militant Muslims” or “third-world migrants”. In one clip she is harangued by bearded man in Islamic attire for eating a pork sausage.

#world

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thecaptaintrout@lemmy.zip on 25 Jan 11:28 next collapse

Sigh. I hate this timeline.

linule@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 11:44 next collapse

Oh no what are we going to do… a far right AI-avatar! People know that you can create 10000+ left, center, etc. AI-avatars, as well as fact checking AI-avatars debunking what this one says, right?

FireRetardant@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 12:44 next collapse

No way am I trusting an AI fact checker

linule@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 13:07 collapse

That would be for people that are trusting the original AI.

It could, among other things, link to sources.

It doesn’t even have to be accurate. It suffices if it makes clear that there are different perspectives, or that you simply can’t trust anything. People exhausted by contradicting slop is a better outcome than allowing only one type of slop to take over.

porcoesphino@mander.xyz on 25 Jan 14:57 collapse

A lot of genAI now links to sources, that are frequently wrong, and I haven’t noticed that changing fanboys obnoxious praising them

orclev@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 13:14 next collapse

You’re suggesting the solution to AI slop spewing racism is more AI slop somehow “debunking” racism? How would that work exactly? This sounds like a propaganda wet dream.

You should look up how Russian style propaganda works. It isn’t by lying convincingly but rather by flooding all channels with so much noise that it requires major effort to determine what’s true and what isn’t. When you’re drowning in bullshit most people will give up and just decide to believe whatever agrees with their personal opinions rather than whatever the reality is and it’s a lot easier to manipulate vibes than it is reality.

linule@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 13:21 collapse

I think that flooding the zone with alternative slop would have a neutralizing effect. At the end everyone gets exhausted, which is a better outcome than allowing right wing slop to spread completely unhindered. Of course people will then start protecting their spaces, moderating the slop they don’t like, but you‘d at least have neutralized the public spaces, which would be a win.

orclev@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 13:29 collapse

What you’re describing is literally the KGBs playbook and no it doesn’t work in anyone’s favor but the ones spreading propaganda. All you’ll end up with is an even less informed and apathetic populace and we’re already struggling with that problem. That works in favor of dictators and fascists. Democracies on the other hand require an informed and engaged populace in order to function.

linule@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 13:34 next collapse

What if you don’t use it as only measure? You launch 2 things in parallel: 1. neutralization: flood the zone, exhaust everyone, 2. provide a solution: sane channels that make clear how thinking, fact checking and honest dialogue are the only way out.

robinhoode@lemmy.zip on 25 Jan 13:44 collapse

I think the final form of this conflict is dead internet theory territory.

It’s another scenario that is hard to predict the end game because AI at this scale has not been seen before.

linule@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 15:31 collapse

That’s what „flood the zone“ ultimately means. It’s effectively no different than the other solution usually proposed, which is banning social media. Except than bans can be avoided, people will seek to challenge them, etc.

otter@lemmy.ca on 25 Jan 15:16 collapse

The problem is that the algorithms optimize for this kind of content. The people seeing this LLM avatar wouldn’t start seeing the “good” LLM avatars. Instead, content in the “good” spaces will become watered down with low quality/ rage-bait-y slop

linule@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 15:22 collapse

It depends on how you present it. It doesn’t have to be „boring good“. And even then you can still work e.g. on the comment area (reactive, not original content).

apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 13:21 next collapse

No I won’t, thank you.

k0e3@lemmy.ca on 25 Jan 13:36 next collapse

For a group of people who hate trans women for not being “real women,” they sure seem OK with bajillions of 1s and 0s identifying as a woman.

Stern@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 13:59 next collapse

They want a blowup doll who will do the dishes and won’t backtalk. Once we can load AI into RealDoll’s these guys will basically cease to exist in a generation.

TheLowestStone@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 14:13 collapse

This is the great reset our planet needs.

UnspecificGravity@piefed.social on 25 Jan 17:33 collapse

Yep, we are past peak humanity.

jacksilver@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 19:58 collapse

Just for context, she’s actually from a video game the UK government funded about political idealogy - knowyourmeme.com/memes/amelia-pathways

It seems like it’s just become a bit of a meme/rallying point for some people in the UK.

hateisreality@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 14:58 next collapse

Never trust purple hair

tatann@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 22:57 collapse
zecg@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 15:09 next collapse

The very thing racist memes need to stay alive is literally articles like this, great job Guardian

Widdershins@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 15:23 next collapse

the chances are you will soon encounter one viral meme or another inspired by her on Facebook or X

Bold of them to assume me, the reader, visits either of those sites.

umbrella@lemmy.ml on 25 Jan 15:23 next collapse

they don’t have real woman to parrot their fascism, so they have to ai generate one.

she also looks like the “liberal” purple haired girl they told us they hated so much.

meco03211@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 16:35 next collapse

They hate that girl because they know she’s out of their league. So they preemptively hate her to avoid the embarrassment of rejection. This gives them cover to constantly stalk her and talk about her without revealing they secretly want her.

TheMinister@sh.itjust.works on 25 Jan 19:29 next collapse

They generated an underage girl who resembles the women they claim to loathe so they can control the object of their actual desire which is young girls.

gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de on 25 Jan 23:53 next collapse

she also looks like the “liberal” purple haired girl they told us they hated so much.

typical right-wing mindset is pretty simple. is she hot? if yes, she gets a lot of views, no matter what her hair color is.

wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz on 26 Jan 00:28 collapse

It’s telling that they generated an AI schoolgirl to lure right-wingers further towards extremism…

Tempus_Fugit@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 16:39 next collapse

Holy shit! I about cringed out of my own skin. What kind of uber loser gets off to this slop? Man, some men really are the most pathetic mouth breathers to ever exist. I almost feel bad for them. Thank fuck I’m nothing like them.

Earthman_Jim@lemmy.zip on 25 Jan 17:51 next collapse

Can’t even find real women to spread their hate. Anyone who spreads this shit is too ugly inside and out, so they need this paranoid android.

jacksilver@lemmy.world on 25 Jan 19:57 collapse

She’s actually from a video game the UK government made (pretty sure it was made by the government). In it your not supposed to agree with Amelias political views, but obviously that’s not really a good way to convince people.

knowyourmeme.com/memes/amelia-pathways

Taleya@aussie.zone on 26 Jan 01:36 collapse

Anyone who’s surprised she was absolute far right catnip is naive as hell. They all want the hot lefty over conservative women. They just…want specific parts of her.

Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works on 25 Jan 21:52 next collapse

Others have suggested the initiative had backfired, not least by casting a “cute goth girl” as a negative character, leading to her inadvertently becoming a focus of admiration.

No shit. Also, who could possibly have seen the UK government trying to appeal to the youth backfiring?

Sharkticon@lemmy.zip on 26 Jan 02:05 next collapse

Did it backfire or was this the goal?

cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca on 26 Jan 06:07 collapse

I can’t stand that weird pitch AI voices generate