AI Influencers From the Post-ChatGPT Era

An unsurprising side-effect of ChatGPT going viral is that generative AI has become an attractor for people who care about it exclusively as a means to gain money, social media presence, or business opportunities: The new class of AI influencers. Let me start by making it clear that I don't think there's anything wrong with using what's hot to grow a business. As the space of AI influencers grows, they give the field more visibility to people who would've never heard of it otherwise (as incredible as it sounds, most people are unaware of how AI is changing the world). That's great--more people knowing about AI means fewer consequences due to ignorance. AI influencers' incentives to talk, write, and inform about AI are not always aligned with people's desire to know what AI is, how it works, or what makes sense to use it for.