shitpost here

[Garett]

WHAT IS THE ‘COCA COLA EFFECT’?

Have noticed recently the mass appearance of AI in the memetic ecosystems of third world countries, as in quoted tweet below - AI songs, AI posters, AI social media posts etc. are increasingly ubiquitous. A possibly unique feature of this AI cascade in the third world is just how prevalent this AI is in third world public life, I would say anecdotally much more so than in western countries. You wonder, why does nobody seem to care that there is this (as many would consider it) AI ‘slop’ so-called everywhere? What is happening?

Think part of this AI prevalence functions in a similar way to how other aspects of “modernity” already have. It’s difficult to describe this downstream effect but let’s be reductive about it and call it the ‘Coca Cola Effect’. Many people in the third world drink a lot of Coca Cola. Why? Because Coca Cola is much better than anything they had before. Have talked about this before - remember walking into a supermarket into a certain African country and finding rows and rows of shelves stacked with Coca Cola. A really really disgusting amount of Coca Cola. Thought, who is drinking this much Coca Cola? Well, it turned out the locals were - because they like drinking Coca Cola. Coca Cola is fun, enjoyable and easy to drink, it ‘tastes nice’, it is ‘accessible’, why would you not drink Coca Cola instead of water? There isn’t much else available to drink, the choice is obvious

This isn’t a value judgement, it’s easy enough to see because people vote with their feet (and stomachs) - especially where there isn’t really any extant social pressure or framework to be particularly discerning about what you consume. They enthusiastically adopt western things because those things are often a genuine improvement on what was available before, if there even was a native alternative. AI is going to do the same thing for a lot of entertainment etc. most likely for exactly the same reason. Many people think of it as janky unreliable ‘slop’ but (even outside of those occasional times when it can be good - which are often largely because of the tastes and discernments of the individual people using it as a creative tool) in the case of eg music it’s far more interesting and stimulating sonically than most of their own music - or is at least an adequate replacement for it insofar as it meets consumer demands vis-á-vis ‘the kinds of things they already actually like’ ‘at their level’. You can see it already with AI art. They genuinely like it and think it’s good and compared to what was available it often is

If an American or European restaurant used AI to design signage and a menu and a visual identity unless it was ‘really really good’ it would be pretty suspect, maybe even ‘low status’ so-called. But if a third-world restaurant did it it would be a level of polish and professionalisation far beyond what they would normally be expected to do you might even be impressed. I remember in a certain Latin American country a few months ago I saw a motorbike rental company that had made posters advertising in a ‘Studio Ghibli CHATGPT’ aesthetic. ‘RENT A BIKE’ and then it was some anime Latinas driving motorbikes through a tropical Ghiblesque beachside town. Thought, that’s very cool. Even when this eg AI signage isn’t done professionally it still generally looks ‘fairly decent’ or at least ‘basically fine’ as compared to the other signage in its surroundings

To the ‘Coca Cola Effect’ again, Coca Cola as sugary, unhealthy sludge but it tastes nice so it is better than brackish, warm bottled water. The ‘Coca Cola Effect’ is the preference for products or attitudes that are in some important way ‘better’ than existing products or attitudes even if those products or attitudes are considered ‘lower status’ or ‘slop’ by more discerning people

 

[panzerkampfwagyu]

 

[Tony_Mushah]

 

[bigtiddyoneesan]

i'm keeping my DLSS 5 off, thank you very much

 

[tilefish]

It's the same image?

 

[Tony_Mushah]

It's the same image?

Who knows?

 

[tilefish]

No no, I'm certain of it now. Same image. Then again, my reality doesn't have good graphics. I'm still on update 0.79A. It just runs smoother.

 

[Angry_Panda]

Who knows?

TRAUMA TRIGGERED

WILL BE CRYING IN BED FOR THE REST OF THE DAY



(oh, wait, I can just read the next chapter, never mind)

 

[Tony_Mushah]

God... what i have done...

Spoiler: I am ragebaiting alright...

 

[BakedBanana]

God... what i have done...

Spoiler: I am ragebaiting alright...

I think the only thing rage baiting about that edit is the quality of those images.

 

[Tony_Mushah]

I think the only thing rage baiting about that edit is the quality of those images.

Imgflip somewhat compressed the images too much while rendering the meme.
I know i could use an image editing software like Krita or GIMP but I am lazy to open those just for a random ass meme.

 

[BakedBanana]

Imgflip somewhat compressed the images too much while rendering the meme.

No wonder, that's like the most half-baked thing you could use.

 

[Dverin_Oshiban_Duren]

I blame you guys for messing up my algorithm.

 

[tilefish]

I had a dream that I could look at a forum username and beside it would pop up with their real name. But because of my memory when it comes to real life names, I wouldn't remember any of them. I was thinking, "Oh cool. That's their name." and immediately forget it. It was nice.

 

[pandascepter]

I think the only thing rage baiting about that edit is the quality of those images.

Bee 3 is better than Bee V, couldnt agree more.

 

[Manko-sensei]

When new cats join the family:

 

[Pandas795]

@pandascepter

I'm doing good, it's way to hot here

Oh wait I actually replied back to you in 2020? Lol @pandascepter

 

[tilefish]

I've taken to @BakedBanana's method of reacting to old comments and threads, just for funsies.
I think a lot more people are ignoring me now, which I find funny.

 

[DavidianMillerian]

A Silent Voice chapter 20

literally @sterven, fr fr

 

[Garett]