SWFL MARKETING & ADVERTISING AGENCY

The Danger of AI in Advertising

How a client’s “American Made” advertising highlights the dangers of AI and it’s use in advertising (as well as the larger implications of this technology as it quietly spreads devious ideologies throughout society).

Something struck me today as I was working on a client account – two client accounts actually. Within AdWords – google has integrated it’s AI system called “gemini” to help you create all kinds of assets while setting up accounts. This is a big help. Much of account setup and management is monotonous so having a tool to help create some of the small text and assets needed is definitely a game changer. It means people and companies like Olympia that manage Google AdWords PPC Accounts – can now concentrate on what matters most – analyzing the data and making changes that have big impacts – instead of having to spend hours on tiny text changes.

But, integration of these AI systems is very dangerous, even now – as I’ll explain shortly.

Before We Get to the Details – let’s take a step back and discuss some of the glaring issues with Artificial Intelligence.

Artificial Intelligence – an Ideological Nightmare

Google recently came under fire for some images that were created with it’s AI in that it was refusing to create images of white people and supplanting white/europeans for blacks, and other darker-skinned people for peoples even when told NOT to and even when it IS NOT HISTORICALLY or FACTUALLY accurate.

Google has apologized for what it describes as “inaccuracies in some historical image generation depictions” with its Gemini AI tool, saying its attempts at creating a “wide range” of results missed the mark. The statement follows criticism that it depicted specific white figures (like the US Founding Fathers) or groups like Nazi-era German soldiers as people of color, possibly as an overcorrection to long-standing racial bias problems in AI.

What’s ironic is that Google has been doing this for years – if you searched for various phrases, it was clear to a LOT of people that Google was trying to steer things ideologically and were providing results in a particular direction with a particular ideology. This is a VERY dangerous thing – especially for a TECH company to do be doing and I believe it’s VERY important for people to understand how both their private tech data is being weaponized against them as well as how these tools are shaping reality through the manipulation of public perception (obviously this is a bit outside the scope of this blog), but we’ll be successful at least in revealing how dangerous AI’s implementation is weaponizing ideology and how it’s already happening RIGHT NOW – TO YOU.

What is Ideology?

Ideology is a system of idea/ideals. It’s the things you think, but can’t remember why and those are bundled together with all kinds of assumptions you make about the world. Part of this is laziness, but part is time and sheer energy and brainpower. Not everyone can know everything as far as the collective understanding of the universe as we know it – and alternatively, if we knew everything, we’d be like God – so we rely on history, on the collective, on others – outsourcing much of what we believe or understand.

So at it’s core ideology is all of your presuppositions (the things you just “believe” are true). Ironically, most don’t realize how much belief is a part of life in the 21st century. We think all of those silly religious nuts and their beliefs were overthrown with logic and science. All of this stems from the enlightenment, as well as the changing culture that’s been slowly moving towards where we are since at least the industrial revolution and certainly in the 20th century with the world wars.

But, IN FACT – BELIEF underscores, underpins, girdles EVERYTHING we say and do. The fastest way to understand this is just go back to being a 3 year old and ask “why?” To everything. It’s annoying. But if you do this to yourself, you’ll quickly realize… yes, in fact, things aren’t what they seem – and you probably DON’T have good answers for things.

There seems to be a strange anomaly with man kind – whereby it takes us being immersed in language until we’re children to start to begin to experience consciousness. Then as we get older, we start to realize and grow into all kinds of higher learning or higher levels of consciousness. It’s only by looking back at our presuppositions (those things that were taught to us by friends, family, society – even during and through education) and asking questions (as we can now that we’re “conscious”) that we can begin to see the world more accurately.

One example of this is becoming aware of lying. How we can massage reality into whatever we want it to be – for others – by painting a different picture. When we’re children we don’t do this (although we do learn quickly), we have a voice in our head that tells us what we should/shouldn’t do. As we begin to learn actions have consequences, and some of those consequences have bad feelings/punishments attached to them, we begin to learn to manipulate reality to prevent those feelings. And eventually a version of ourselves is born – often (these days in particular) we’ve ignored that inner voice for so long that it begins to completely disappear and we think we are the person we’ve been lying about this whole time.

Ironically, it’s ALWAYS the children that are most affected by ideology. Why? Because they’re not yet fully conscious enough to question their surroundings – to study history, or to reflect on their own experience and circumstances and apply it to what has been given to them as “right.”

What is Nationalism?

What I’m about to present might sound COMPLETELY irrelevant – but it is entirely relevant (both for this story as well as for where we’re currently at in culture and time… )

When I type “nationalism” – what do you think?

If you’re like myself – you think/thought it’s bad.

But, I realized about a decade ago that we in the West have a distorted view of nationalism. I started by asking myself “why?” Why is it “bad?” Well it was basically branding of a term and ideology – IE “nazis were nationalistic right? and nazis = bad right?” – so much of us collectively stopped understanding what it truly meant.

We outsourced our thinking to the collective and social order and the social order – through massive free-trade changes that have been happening since the 70s was saying… “nationalism bad…”

It wasn’t until Trump’s running for office in 2015 that I realized (as he was throwing that word around) that in, fact, nationalism wasn’t what I thought it was. One hint at what it is, is found in the name itself (as so many keys to reality are found). The root comes from the word “natal” – or to be born. It is, at it’s core – the love of the place one was born (the literal land) the culture, the people.

There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with this.

But, for some reason – as we all know – a particular group of people is not allowed to do this, to love itself (ESPECIALLY NOT COLLECTIVELY). And I’m not even advocating for that here – just pointing out patterns. I find it strange Google encourages businesses to mark all kinds of qualifications…

  • LGBTQ Owned/Friendly
  • Trans Friendly
  • Women Owned
  • Black Owned

But ONLY in a particular direction. Why not a “Christian Owned” business listing category?

Let’s get back to how this ties into managing a local Google AdWords account and the danger of AI:

Artificial Intelligence Doesn’t Like “American Made” Products

So it was with this background and mindset I’m sitting here this afternoon trying to optimize a clients’ adwords account (two clients actually).

Client 1 – Veteran home services company, salt of the earth, worked hard for 40+ years and is trying to grow their company so they can provide a legacy for their children and grand children. Literally some of the best and kindest people I’ve ever known. Works hard to try to source all U.S. based manufacturers and parts for every job. All of their personnel are born and raised right here in Southwest Florida and that’s important to them and all of their customers.

Client 2 – A real estate agent in the area – the TOP agent in the area actually. He was born here, raised here, and he KNOWS here – because it’s literally a differentiator that makes him a great agent – knowledge of Southwest Florida that extends decades and an understanding of where things have been and a vision for the future.

In BOTH of the above cases – Google’s gemini REFUSED to produce any content suggestions when I fed the above information into the tool to assist with suggestions.

I then ran some tests changing content and realized two things:

  • Any talk of being born or “from a location” is disallowed.
  • Similarly, any talk of “american-made” is being censored at the AI level.

Google clearly hates actually native born people (IE people born RIGHT NOW, in the place they’re living, working and building their communities) this is independent of race/gender and it DEFINITELY hates the idea that even a small company would choose (at the will of its owner, AND ALL OF ITS customers…!) to choose American made parts and services. Absolutely absurd.

Where is this Heading?

I don’t know where this is heading specifically, but it does raise a number of questions:

  • Now here’s an interesting hypothetical – what happens when the language that underpins these ads is completely automated? It’s clearly beginning to happen with advertising platforms today.
  • In any given day – what perspectives DON’T we see? Both from conventional human outlets, and now ESPECIALLY because things are being mediated through these ideologically outrageous AI tools?
  • Are ads already being throttled based on the companies behind them (Google’s own viewpoint of the company from an ideological perspective)? – I know first hand that Google HAS gone after individuals and companies in the past for transgressions unrelated to their involvement with Google, completely illegally (and lost in court) – but in these cases one would never know and most wouldn’t have the money to support a law suit even if it was revealed this is happening.
  • Is even the current nature of AI integration at this level already steering ads in a direction that’s inline with Google’s ideology (what even IS that ideology overall)?
  • Why are companies hell-bent on lecturing others on how to live? (reminds me of the failed “race” discussions Starbucks tried to push years ago.
  • How many people realize that the companies they support are actively trying to harm them through all kinds of subversive techniques?
  • Where does this end? We know that “climate change” is a massive narrative that’s been spun up for nearly a hundred years (and been completely wrong time and again), but it’s been thoroughly cemented in people’s minds. Since people no longer have local communities to fight for (help grow, nourish, etc.) turning people’s minds to more global “problems” has been an interesting move… but when does it end? We’ve traded the moral authority of religion, for the moral authority of the state and the ones with the largest companies and purses – this has to have been a step backwards (or a step closer to hell).
  • With all of our knowledge, and science, and technology – how could this have happened?

So What Do We Do?

I don’t know. Unfortunately there’s a whole giant economic system in place that basically forces small local businesses to use Google:

  • 90%+ of the browser market share
  • nearly 100% of the search share (both Google and #2 YouTube)

If you want to be found… it’s only Google’s services you MUST rely on for a host of businesses. I know many businesses that receive 90%+ of their total income directly from Google based clients (people searching and finding them on Google’s services).

So the collective must begin to use alternatives. I know even though I have to use these tools for my work – I do what I can to minimize their use personally. I don’t have a Google or Apple phone. I don’t use Google for a majority of my searches.

But is this realistic in the aggregate? Not likely.

Policies could be enacted that shape this. Especially for a media company of this nature, guidelines could be put in place that disallow certain ideological insanities being forced on customers. Similarly much of AI seems to be free and open (from what I hear) behind the scenes – it’s only the ideological public facing layer that prevents people from using it in certain ways. Policy could be enacted that disables this.

It’s a strange time to be alive…

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