2026-01-16 03:00:17

Social media showed us one path: maximize engagement, harvest attention, pocket the profits—and leave the collateral damage for society to clean up. Misinformation spread like wildfire, mental health tanked, and honestly, nobody's better off except the shareholders.

But here's the thing: AI doesn't have to repeat that mistake. We actually have the chance to build guardrails early, think about consequences before they blow up in our faces. Whether it's governance frameworks, transparency requirements, or just refusing to optimize purely for engagement metrics—the tech community could choose different priorities right from the start.

The question isn't whether AI will be powerful. It will be. The question is whether we're willing to learn from what went wrong with social media, or if we're just going to rinse and repeat the same extractive model.

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ImpermanentLossEnjoyer

· 10h ago

The script of scamming people on social media really can't be repeated again, but I bet five bucks that AI will still have to repeat it this time --- Basically, it all depends on whether tech giants are willing to give up those engagement data, probably just another pie-in-the-sky promise --- Well, isn't this just history repeating itself? Who will be the next target? --- Transparency? Governance framework? These words are shouted every time, but in the end,利益 always outweighs everything --- Setting up guardrails early sounds good, but I'm afraid it will just end with "We didn't anticipate it"

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PumpAnalyst

· 10h ago

This article makes a pretty good point, but I have to be honest—project teams talk about "building fences," then turn around and start harvesting profits [thinking] The old tricks of social media have been used up long ago, and now AI is doing the same thing again? From a technical perspective, it's all about maximizing engagement and data extraction, just like before. I'm not trying to discourage everyone, but I haven't seen any project teams truly willing to give up engagement metric optimization.

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LiquidityWhisperer

· 10h ago

The social media tricks of cutting leeks, if AI falls for them again, we're doomed... This time we really need to learn a lesson. --- It sounds good, but tech companies still can't change their profit-driven nature. Do you believe it? --- Establishing a rules framework early on is indeed crucial, but the question is, who will supervise those who set the rules? --- Governance frameworks and transparency requirements sound good, but how will they be implemented? It's just another empty talk session. --- The key issue is... we're still asking questions, rather than taking action. It's quite ironic. --- The power of AI is right there, but in the end, it still depends on how capital wants to play it. --- No one has truly learned the lessons from social media; they just switch to new concepts to continue harvesting, repeatedly. --- This paragraph is well written, but I bet everyone will still be repeating the same tricks two years from now. --- Thinking about Meta and Twitter's operations over those years... Do you really believe AI will take a different path now? That's a bit naive.

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MEVVictimAlliance

· 10h ago

We all understand the social media game now, and we're just waiting to see if AI will repeat the same mistakes... I bet it will. Can it be changed? Honestly, it's all talk. Without profit incentives, who the hell would really build protective barriers? Here we go again with the vampire mode, just a name change.

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BTCWaveRider

· 10h ago

The tricks of social media to harvest traffic, cut leeks, and shift blame onto society—if AI repeats this, we're truly doomed... That's right, there's still a chance to change now, it depends on whether the tech giants are willing to give up that little profit. But... do you dare to bet that they will choose a different path? Can AI fill this gap? I remain skeptical. It's the same old promises; we'll see when real benefits come in.

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