Axios 'Discovers' Racist AI, Ignores Real-World Media Propaganda
Axios warns about AI-generated racist videos perpetuating stereotypes and swaying political opinions, complete with examples of 'welfare queen' narratives. This concern is valid, yet it conveniently skirts the fact that mainstream media has been executing the identical playbook for decades, often with far greater reach. Remember how many headlines demonized welfare recipients, particularly women
of color, in the 80s and 90s, fueling policy changes that devastated communities? (A quick Google search for 'welfare reform debates' will show you.) The only difference? It was crafted by flesh-and-blood editors, not algorithms. While they decry 'digital blackface,' a significant portion of what passes for news, particularly on foreign policy, functions as 'digital whitewashing' – effectively
erasing Palestinian voices and framing resistance as terrorism. Why worry about AI-generated propaganda when human-generated propaganda, often funded by lobbying groups like AIPAC, has successfully steered billions in aid and justified countless humanitarian disasters? One might wonder if the real concern is the democratization of propaganda that AI enables, threatening the established
gatekeepers' monopoly on narrative control, rather than the ethical implications themselves.