New “Ad Camouflage” feature replaces Grandma with Grubhub, seamlessly

  • mindbleach@sh.itjust.works
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    10 hours ago

    Hire a fucking editor.

    Google cramming ads into photos is just barely implausible. This is a better premise than most isGlitch crap, which reads like lying with style - but there’s no style. ‘Calls it innovation’ is the sort of weak ending you’d give to actual rage-bait news. For a punchline, that fluff goes at the beginning, so the rug-pull at the end falls further and hits harder.

    “Innovative new cloud storage updates vintage ads to modern brands.” “Google lets you hide ads in old family photos behind newer, fancier ads.” “Vintage photo enhancement tool adds product placement.” “AI-powered family album app is pretty sure your grandma drank White Claw.”

    The rest of the front page is surprisingly decent. You can’t “detect ethics,” grammatically, but that’s nitpicky. Consider: “Microsoft AI’s enhanced reasoning spots ethical concerns so they can be seamlessly ignored.” Youtube’s moderation is already slapdash; the real joke would be upselling a plan to do nothing. “Homeopathic moderation.” Even if it’s riffing on The Onion’s “unlimited deductible.”

  • emberinmoss@sh.itjust.works
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    2 days ago

    Ugh that could happen. I wish the Onion would post more unbelievable stories like “Meta, Alphabet and other big tech names are leaving all of us alone. Everything is free again, you can masturbate in private again, and you don’t have to subscribe to use your printer or use an app to flush your toilet.”

  • Stovetop@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Shit, this feels like peering into a future we are powerless to avoid.

    This idea never occurred to me before, but this absolitely sounds like something Google or whoever else will try doing at some point down the road.

    If there exists a vector for ads to be delivered to users, they will take it.

    • blitzen@lemmy.ca
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      2 days ago

      We may very well be powerless to stop them from doing this, but it would seem extremely easy to avoid.

      • kautau@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        I think for people who actively avoid it, but so many people are so beholden to the services they use, they can’t imagine any alternative, and they’ve built both a mental model of the world and social groups that include these services.

        Like if they don’t post the new cute “Starbucks pumpkin spice’d up your photos” thing on insta when all their friends do, how will they be regarded? Will their social clout drop?

        Our social systems need to be decoupled with social media (read: capitalism) and then we can make steps forward, though it seems we may have to drag people kicking and screaming toward that