tech

Meta launched a new AI optimism ad set to a song about human extinction

David Bowie's song "Five Years," which Meta used in a supposedly inspiring advertisement, is about humans learning that they have five years left to live before the apocalypse.

Meta launched a new AI optimism ad set to a song about human extinction

TL;DR

  • Meta's new advertisement aims to portray AI positively, using David Bowie's song "Five Years" as its soundtrack.
  • The song "Five Years" is about the human race learning they have five years left to live due to a mass-extinction event, a stark contrast to the ad's optimistic message.
  • The author critiques Meta's choice, suggesting it is contradictory and that tech leaders often lack literary understanding, citing other examples like OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman and the company Palantir.
  • Anthropic also released an eerie advertisement featuring themes of surveillance, poverty, and death, which conveyed a similar bleak mood.
  • Public perception of AI remains largely negative, with a Pew survey indicating that only 16% of Americans believe AI's impact will be positive over the next 20 years.