TheTitanic collidingwith an iceberg lettuce.
While some AI slop is glaringly fake, a lot isnt.
I remember the first time AI hoodwinked me.
Amazed by the scene, I instantly shared it with my wife.
Her response was: Surely that cant be real?!
But recently, scrolling through my feed has become less viewing pleasure and more spot-the-bot.
Thats irritating, sure, but when AI images appear real they can also causeserious harm.
All of this has forced me to seekan alternative.
It turns out, Im not alone.
It’s free, every week, in your inbox.
But unfortunately, its a problem thats likely to get a lot worse before it gets better.
The platform has also made it really easy todisable the label.
But the cherry on the shitcake is that Meta openly usespublic posts to train its algorithms.
Cara has been one of the beneficiaries.
Putting artists first
Zhang argues that new rules to protect creators online are essential.
Its a problem Zhang, whos an award-winning Singaporean photographer, knows all too well.
Shewon a landmark appealin a Luxembourg court last year over a painter who copied one of her photographs.
Caras big selling point, however, is its policies on AI.
All users are automatically opted out from AI bot-scraping by default, the company tells me.
So how does it compare with Instagram?
Well, my first impressions are good.
For that, we tried another app Pixelfed.
As with Cara, AI-generated content is prohibited.
However, the feed is chronological posts are displayed in the exact order they were published.
Despite having only 700,000 users on the platform, Pixelfed already hosts plenty of great photography.
It feels raw and unfiltered, and the ad-free, AI-free experience allows you to focus on the content.
Pixelfed runs on ActivityPub, an open protocol for social networking developed byTim Berners-LeesWorld Wide Web Consortium.
ActivityPub also powers other apps like microblogging site Mastodon founded by German developerEugen Rochko and YouTube alternative PeerTube.
Pixelfeds user base grew rapidly following the release of its app on iOS and Android in January.
However, with Supernault the sole developer, plus the surge in traffic, there are inevitably some bugs.
The app also feels a bit slow.
If staying on Instagram doesnt affect your values[,] dont make the move.
So long, Instagram, Im off.
Dear friends, will you join me?
Story bySion Geschwindt
Sion is a freelance science and technology reporter, specialising in climate and energy.
