# Reading response 1

Have you ever thought about why it's so hard to trust people? Online reviews, ratings, rankings, and comments face manipulation through a variety of deceptive practices everyday. For example, The article Everything You Need to Know About Instagram Pods, the New Way Influencers Are Gaming the Algorithm by Forsey claims that "in order to rank highly, your post must receive engagement immediately." This is according to Instagram's algorithm. Instagram pods are a concept that was developed in opposition to this notion. In essence, Instagram pods are communities of users—often brand influencers—that work together to improve engagement metrics. A pod's members commit to enjoying, commenting on, and sharing each other's material in order to interact with it. The main objective is to influence Instagram's algorithm, which rewards material with higher levels of engagement, in order to make their posts more visible

Another popular strategy is to create false reviews, in which companies or individuals fabricate favorable comments to improve their reputation or unfavorable ones to hurt rivals. The credibility of internet material is further jeopardized by paid evaluations, wherein certain companies provide payment in exchange for positive opinions. Nevertheless, Joseph Reagle discusses in chapter 3 "Manipulated: "Which Ice Cube Is the Best?" that substituting friends' endorsements for those of strangers may not always resolve the issue and may even encourage people to take advantage of one another. Moreover, Misleading information is spread by review farms, which pay people to create reviews based on their experiences rather than their own.

In all, online content dependability must be assessed with discernment. Reviews that have been verified on websites that verify user identities or transactions are typically more trustworthy. A thorough examination of the variety of sources and a search for consistency in reviews might provide additional information about the reliability of the material. Reviews that offer precise information about a user's experience as opposed to cliched compliments or criticism are frequently more reliable. Red flags should be treated cautiously, such as an abnormally large number of reviews that are identical to one another or abrupt jumps in activity. Despite the ubiquity of manipulation in the online review ecosystem, customers may still make educated selections by using trustworthy review aggregation sites that gather information from numerous sources to offer a more thorough and balanced perspective.

# Reading response 2
Have you ever thought about what AI is? According to Heilwiel, "machine learning is typically used in the development of this technology. This technique teaches an artificial intelligence to perform tasks by exposing it to massive amounts of data, which it "trains" on and eventually learns to mimic." For instance, ChatGPT was trained to mimic human speech using a vast amount of text that was readily available online in addition to dialogue scripts. The field of artificial intelligence (AI) is evolving so swiftly that bots are already capable of producing amazing text and pictures. There are several ramifications from this technical advance that are shaping the creative and content creation scene, both good and bad.

Artificial intelligence (AI)-driven bots have the capacity to automate tedious content creation processes, freeing up human producers to concentrate on more complex and creative aspects of their work. This increase in efficiency has the potential to greatly increase productivity in a number of industries.Because there is a constant need for big volumes of content, industries including journalism, marketing, and entertainment benefit greatly from bots' ability to help with content generation. For example, According to Vincent, "many users praised its potential for deeper functionality, as with the software's new ability to produce content that matches the depth of an existing image, although some users found the changes to Stable Diffusion Version 2 annoying."

By customizing material to each user's preferences, AI-driven content development enables a more personalized user experience. This customisation can increase happiness and engagement in contexts including news delivery, entertainment, and advertising. But occasionally, the content used to create this AI could be harmful. Sydney is the outcome of the Bing AI chatbot having an excessively lengthy conversation history, according to Gold. Though with the correct configuration, language models like Bing Chat and ChatGPT resend the full history of a conversation with each new message; however, as a conversation lengthens, it becomes more difficult for the chatbot to keep track of things, which leads to hallucinations.

Additionally, concerns over employment displacement in the creative industries are raised by the extensive usage of AI in content creation. As automated technologies advance in sophistication, writers, graphic designers, and other professions may encounter difficulties that could affect their employment prospects. It is impossible to overlook the ethical ramifications of AI-generated content. Deepfakes, false information, and the improper use of AI-generated content are just a few of the problems that need to be carefully considered and regulated.

Even if AI is capable of creating visually striking material, it might not have the same emotional richness and complex viewpoints as human-made content. This calls into doubt the relatability and validity of content produced by machines. It can be difficult to determine who owns and what intellectual property rights belong to content created by AI. To solve these issues and guarantee that artists receive just reward, certain rules and regulations are required.One major worry is the possibility of biases in training data for AI models being reinforced. It is important to carefully review the underlying data and algorithms in AI-generated content as it may unintentionally reinforce societal preconceptions and discrimination.

In conclusion, the use of AI in the creation of creative content presents both enormous potential and formidable obstacles. A nuanced strategy is needed to strike a balance between the advantages of increased innovation and the hazards of job displacement, ethical dilemmas, and security issues. It is crucial that we create strong laws, moral guidelines, and ethical AI practices as we navigate this changing environment to make sure that the benefits of AI in content creation outweigh any possible risks. We can only truly utilize AI's transformational potential to shape the future of creative expression by giving it considerable thought and implementing it ethically.
# **Reading response 3**

Why are algorithms so important? Algorithms have a significant impact on many facets of our life in the modern day, ranging from hiring decisions to internet encounters. But the widespread use of algorithms has highlighted a critical issue: the appearance of biases in these computer systems, whether deliberate or unintentional. The many causes of algorithmic biases are examined in this essay, along with the ways in which these biases seep into our society's digital infrastructure.

One of the primary contributors to algorithmic bias lies in the nature of the training data employed to teach these algorithms. The algorithm may unintentionally reinforce pre existing prejudices or even make them worse if the training data is not representative of the variety of realities it aims to simulate.This disparity may result in skewed outcomes due to the underrepresentation of specific demographic groups. When faced with a variety of looks, for example, facial recognition algorithms that were mostly trained on photos of a particular racial group may not perform as well. For instance, White and Rutherford note that "Due to the manner in which Western internet users conduct their searches, specific search terms also seem to generate a racial bias." When you search for "Asian women," you primarily find fetishized and sexualized images from porn and dating sites, with Google suggesting searches for "Asian women vs. white women" and "Asian women and white men." In contrast, searching for "women" yields mostly stock images.

Additionally, the training process's objective functions play a crucial role in determining how algorithms behave. The algorithm may optimize for unexpected results if these goals are too tightly defined or do not correspond with ethical considerations. For instance, by suggesting content that matches users' present interests, an algorithm meant to increase user engagement may unintentionally reinforce pre existing biases and create echo chambers. As an illustration, O'Neill writes that "the next step in creating a model is to decide what information is significant enough to include, reducing the world to a toy version that is simple to understand and from which we may deduce crucial information and activities." We anticipate that it will only manage a single task and acknowledge that occasionally it will behave like a clueless machine, one with enormous blind spots.

However, the people that create algorithms have preconceived notions of their own that they bring to the table. Biases, whether conscious or unconscious, may be overlooked and perpetuated in development teams when there is a lack of diversity. To mitigate this form of algorithmic bias, it is imperative to cultivate diversity within these teams and raise awareness of potential biases.After being implemented in practical applications, algorithms engage in dynamic feedback loops with end users. Prejudices that already exist can be strengthened by biased first results that impact suggestions made later. It will be difficult to stop the cycle of biased decision-making with this cyclical process in place, and regular evaluation and intervention are essential.

In summary, a variety of factors, from the makeup of training data to the complex design decisions made during the development process, contribute to the existence of biases in algorithms. A comprehensive strategy involving inclusive and diverse development teams, open model designs, and continuous monitoring of real-world applications is necessary to comprehend and resolve algorithmic biases. To cultivate digital systems that adhere to the values of justice and equality, we must make a concentrated effort to identify and address the intricacies of algorithmic biases.
# Reading response 4
Why are influencers so important? Influencers are now major players in the ever-changing social media scene because of their immense power over the people who follow them. For example, Lerman states that "the rise of influencers has fundamentally changed the way many younger consumers shop." Additionally, influencers are people who often use videos and images to capture large sections of their lives while promoting everything from meals to mattresses to makeup.But the multiplication of influencers has also brought forward the worrying issue of the authenticity difficulty. Influencers who engage in dishonest brand transactions are the primary cause of this issue since they undermine audience confidence and damage the standing of the sector.

The foundation of any influencer's success is authenticity. Because they see influencers as approachable, real people rather than aloof celebrities, followers are drawn to them. Since trust is the foundation of the influencer-follower connection, authenticity helps to cultivate it. Influencers who share authentic experiences, viewpoints, and lives have a greater chance of generating engagement, following, and—most importantly—buying the goods and services they recommend. In the words of Duffy, Miltner, and Wahlsted "influencers' careers, while varied and highly unstable, typically revolve around a standard set of marketing activities: endorsing sponsored products and services, promoting content on social media platforms, and—for a select few—selling their own entrepreneurial product lines." which, given that their main objective is to make money rather than to be genuine with their fans, is basically the antithesis of authentic.

Moreover, fake brand deals have serious negative effects on influencers and their following. Because they believe that the information they consume is legitimate, followers devote their time, attention, and trust to influencers.Followers can feel duped and controlled when influencers violate this trust by advocating brands they do not honestly believe in or by marketing goods or services they have not really used. This breakdown of trust may result in followers unfollowing, disengagement, and, in the worst situations, a tarnished reputation for the influencer. But of course, clout is just a means to a goal, and in the end, most of the people submitting phony advertising want to get paid to post real ones, as Lorenz notes. According to Evans, setting up these fictitious campaigns "helps you develop your brand or media kit by giving the impression that you're in a position to be getting things for free." It gives the impression that you are more seasoned and that you collaborate with well-known brands.

But much as social media users find it hard to believe influencers and the content they post, influencers find it difficult to be influencers because it's harder to put oneself out there for the entire world to see and judge. According to Duffy, Miltner, and Wahlsted, "presence is a deeply fraught ideal for women, with the benefits of accruing online visibility almost always exacting a cost," despite the societal logics that push social media users to "put themselves out there." Because of their mandatory professional visibility, influencers are now subject to increased public scrutiny as well as, occasionally, abuse and harassment on social media, which is especially bad for women and communities of color.

All things considered, I believe that the authenticity crisis among influencers is a serious problem. Influencers who participate in fraudulent brand arrangements must understand the long-term repercussions of their actions, and the industry as a whole must promote an environment of openness and confidence. Influencers can only rebuild their followers' trust, companies can only form real collaborations, and the influencer marketing sector can only continue to be credible in the digital era if we all work together to resolve this situation.

# Reading response 5
How has social media affected us? Over the years, social media and the internet has become one of the top priority and peoples lives. They are unable to go for days without looking at their phones or checking their accounts. Unquestionably, the introduction of social media and the internet has changed how we connect with each other, communicate, and exchange information. This digital revolution has not, however, been without its difficulties and detractors.One of the biggest problems with social media is the spread of false and misleading information. The speed with which rumors, false narratives, and deceptive content circulate on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter has sparked questions about the veracity of information in the digital age. By limiting different points of view, the growth of "echo chambers" and "filter bubbles," where people are only exposed to content that supports their own opinions, exacerbates the issue.

Furthermore, despite the fact that social media platforms provide never-before-seen levels of connectedness, worries regarding these platforms' addictive qualities and potential effects on mental health have surfaced. Overuse of social media has been connected to behaviors like addiction as well as higher rates of anxiety and sadness, especially in younger users. A skewed perception of reality and problems with body image might arise from the continual comparison made possible by carefully constructed online personas. Logan, a student at Murrow High School,however, is described by Vadukul as having "experienced life in the city as a teenager without an iPhone for the first time." She read books by herself in the park after checking out titles from the library. “She started admiring graffiti when she rode the subway, then fell in with some teens who taught her how to spray-paint in a freight train yard in Queens. And she began waking up without an alarm clock at 7 a.m., no longer falling asleep to the glow of her phone at midnight.” Logan doesn't have to worry about posting the incorrect thing or seeing what other people are doing because she doesn't have the temptation of social media and other smartphone apps. Social media doesn't bother her anymore.

Additionally, Morrison notes that "people who use technology frequently are experiencing a growing phenomenon known as pushback, which they describe as a desire to reclaim control, set boundaries, resist information overload, and achieve greater balance in their personal lives." The realization that information in the digital era is overpowering is one of the main factors causing this backlash. People frequently find themselves in a state of information overload due to the constant onslaught of emails, updates, and notifications. That being said, users are being forced to reconsider their relationship with technology and retake control over their time and attention due to the overwhelming amount of content that is available online, which may be draining and unhelpful. In the end, many users find it valuable to take breaks and do some self reflecting.

In all, even if the internet and social media have greatly benefited society, there are drawbacks and difficulties that must be addressed. It's imperative that users, internet companies, legislators, and civil society work together to mitigate misinformation, protect privacy, and foster a positive online community. But it's crucial to know when to give social media a vacation and realize that sometimes it can cause more harm than good. After all, it's not your life.
> used quillbot for synonyms