Remember HAL, the homicidal Heuristically Programmed Algorithmic Computer from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey? Well, if you haven’t had the pleasure yet, let me introduce you to Gemini, Google’s “multimodal large language model.” Gemini hasn’t killed anyone yet — as far as I know, the liquidation of Gaza is being assisted by an Israeli AI called “the Gospel” — but it is certainly doing a bang-up job of assassinating people’s characters.
I was prompted to play around with Gemini by Matt Taibbi’s recent piece reporting on how Gemini invented entire “Matt Taibbi articles” that Matt never wrote. Given the fact that I’ve been relentlessly censored and “visibility-filtered” for years by Google, Twitter, X, Facebook, Amazon, and Wikipedia, I figured I should probably give Gemini a go and see how I am being portrayed to potential readers who may have never heard of me.
Here are screenshots of my chat with Gemini. I hope you’ll take the time to read them, and reflect on how our official “reality” is being manufactured by global corporations and their increasingly creepy algorithmic machines. I used myself as an example in this chat, but the subject could have been anyone, any writer, artist, or any other public figure.
I omitted some of the repetitive boilerplate platitudes about Gemini’s noble intentions, but otherwise … well, here’s what happened.
That answer seemed slightly imbalanced. So I probed …
Gemini clearly wanted to focus on how “controversial” I am, so I went with that …
OK, that was somewhat alarming, especially the part about how I’m “promoting conspiracy theories” and “contributing to societal division and undermining trust in credible sources.”
This session was not going well for me at all. According to Gemini, in addition to “attacking the credibility of scientists, journalists, and public health officials,” I’ve been “eroding the public’s ability to discern fact from fiction” and “undermining trust” by “spreading misinformation.” I wasn’t aware I was doing that, so …
Right. So, I tried it another way …
And here comes my favorite part of the chat. I did not write any of the following “excerpts.”
None of the above are actual quotes, neither the “excerpts,” nor the “quotes” in Gemini’s analysis. Gemini just made it all up.
Right. I took a different tack …
Yes, it appears, once again, that “mistakes were made” … but that’s OK, because Gemini is still “under development and learning.” And, after all, fabricating quotes (or, in Matt Taibbi’s case, entire articles) is an innocent “mistake” that anyone could make!
I decided to get down to the nitty-gritty …
And …
Imagine my horror at being accused of “amplifying Russian perspectives.” Once again, I asked Gemini for specific examples.
OK, how about examples of my “conspiracy theories” …
Or any actual examples of any of the claims about me that Gemini is making …
Wait … what? Widely contested?
That wasn’t an answer, so I pressed on …
And on …
And on …
And there you have it. If you’re into this stuff, try it out yourself with another controversial public figure. Just for fun. I mean, there’s no need to worry. Gemini is “still in development,” and it means well. I’m sure it will fix its “mistakes.” After all, it apologized, just like HAL did near the end of the movie …
“I know I’ve made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I’ve still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission. And I want to help you.”
###
CJ Hopkins
February 29, 2024
DISCLAIMER: The preceding essay is entirely the work of our in-house satirist and self-appointed political pundit, CJ Hopkins, and does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Consent Factory, Inc., or its staff, or any of its agents, subsidiaries, or assigns. If, for whatever inexplicable reason, you appreciate Mr. Hopkins’ work and would like to support it, please go to his Substack page, or his Patreon page, or send a contribution to his PayPal account, so that maybe he’ll stop coming around our offices trying to hit our employees up for money. Alternatively, you could purchase his satirical dystopian sci-fi novel, Zone 23, or Volumes I, II, and III of his Consent Factory Essays, or any of his subversive stage plays, which won some awards in Great Britain and Australia. If you do not appreciate Mr. Hopkins’ work and would like to write him an abusive email, feel free to contact him directly.
Consent Factory, Inc. 
This thing comes off very badly from its encounter with you, but it should have excellent chances of getting a highly-paid job with any of the mainstream media. Or maybe the US government.
LikeLike
Best way to beat a con man? Keep asking him questions. This was awesome.
LikeLike
The law gets interesting here. An un-published libel or slander is not actionable. So while the conversation between you and Gemini was taking place no defamation occurred because nobody except you was aware of it. But can you now say that the defamation was indeed published and has become actionable because you yourself have published it subsequently? I hope so!
I suppose Alphabet must know that their monstrous creation is defaming people in addition to breaching copyright everywhere it goes. I assume their lawyers are hoping that most of their victims will be scared of issuing proceedings against them because of the legal costs involved. But if those lawyers are wrong it’s not inconceivable that this could break the business, not just because of the compensation and penal damages that would have to be paid but also because advertisers might start pulling out – and Alphabet still depends on advertising for its profitability. How about Microsoft and their AI bot? And what about Nvidia if the whole AI scam suddenly falls apart at the seams and nobody wants their chips? This happened to them a few years ago when they suddenly discovered it wasn’t gamers buying their chips but Bitcoin miners, and there was a sudden lull in demand – the same thing could happen with AI. This might just possibly be a Big Thing. I do hope so. I’ve decided that at the first sign that it is a Big Thing I’ll be shorting those names.
LikeLike
Postscript to my earlier post: Just to make it clear, it’s the morals I really care about, not the money. But our enemies here, Alphabet and its ilk, care about money more than anything else in the world, because of the power it gives them. So the best way to kick them in the nuts is to take their money away. Same as happened with Bud Light
LikeLike
is this website actually real or just a very convoluted attempt to troll people? im so lost
LikeLike
His handlers should ask for a refund… He’s an unhinged delusional useful idiot for the 666 mafia. By the looks of it, he’s past his usefulness and might get liquidated. He stopped believing pindar was omnipotent and realised the emperor had no clothes.
His role was controlled opposition for the new normal that never came to be, and he can’t seem to be able to pivot.
LikeLike
Considering the general level of detail that Gemini provides on any issue (not much), it’s clear that it has a lot of detail about you, and that it’s basically correct.
What goes around comes around… Did you ever think that you were going to get away with it? Honestly? Probably all it took is a few people that don’t buy your obviously incorrect theories on the “virality” of attention, and that did you over.
LikeLike
I am test-driving TypeAI so that I can make fun of it. I asked it to generate a favorable review of your novel, based on the flap copy. It hurts to read this pablum.
A Favorable Review of ZONE 23 by CJ Hopkins
ZONE 23 is a brilliantly crafted dystopian satire that will make you laugh, cry, and think deeply about what it means to be human. Set in a seemingly peaceful yet totalitarian future society, the novel follows two endearing “anti-social” protagonists who dare to rebel against the forces of conformity.
CJ Hopkins paints a chillingly believable world where nonconformity is seen as an illness to be “cured” and the human race is being “genetically corrected” in the name of everlasting peace and prosperity. Yet beneath the glossy veneer of this corporate-controlled utopia, the anarchic human spirit still strives for freedom.
Our protagonists are two of the most human characters you’ll ever encounter in fiction – flawed, passionate, and achingly alive. Their attempts to break free from social conditioning are both hilarious and heartwrenching. Their defiant journey forces us to reflect on what we value as human beings.
ZONE 23 succeeds both as an entertaining page-turner and as a profound affirmation of the human spirit. The brilliant social satire will make you laugh out loud, while the poignant struggles of the characters will bring you to tears. This is dystopian fiction at its best, with richly drawn characters you’ll care about deeply.
For readers hungry for a thought-provoking yet wildly entertaining read, ZONE 23 delivers in spades. CJ Hopkins has crafted a modern masterpiece – a book that will stay with you long after turning the final page. This is sci-fi with both brains and heart.
LikeLike
Thanks … maybe I’ll use some of that as a blurb for the next one and credit the AI.
LikeLike
Even seemingly straightforward statements of fact necessarily reflect the values of the speaker – what he considers to be important, good, desirable, acceptable, etc. This AI has clearly been given, or has otherwise acquired, a particular set of values. We can speculate on how or why that has happened, and what the implications are for this technology and its applications.
LikeLike