Sustainable Synthetics & Inoculated Minds | PATH
5/5 Pragmatic steps towards synthetic media resilience
“The environments set up by different media are not just containers for people, they are processes which shape people. There is no inevitability as long as there is a willingness to contemplate what is happening.”
- Marshall McLuhan, in ‘Saturday Review’, 1967
Crossroads
In her keynote at this year’s SXSW, the futurist Amy Webb used the analogy of the Cambrian Explosion to describe a growing market of data-hungry wearables and ambient devices (or “connectables”, as she calls them, which mirror the combinatorial innovations we explored in post 2/5). By funnelling more contextual and nuanced data into multimodal models and recommendation systems, they seek to play an integral role in delivering on the promise of personalised, convenient, and persuasive AI experiences. While my first instinct was to seek refuge in the pages of ‘Surveillance Capitalism’, I realised the same analogy could extend to synthetic media - specifically, to new formats, platforms, and interfaces across information, social, and entertainment media.
High investments in software startups facilitating media creation and hardware startups trying to be new media gateways signal the market's confidence in eventual widespread adoption (few other sectors are getting this level of attention and funding). However, in keeping with the Cambrian Explosion analogy, not all will prevail, and those that do will share common traits. How do we ensure these align with their consumers’ genuine media needs and overall wellbeing rather than the optimisation of engagement farming?
The emergence of any new media technology typically marks the start of a new cycle, even if the media industry’s instinct has been to apply the incoming one in familiar ways thus far. Like all technologies, generative AI also has an inherent duality spanning benefit and risk, so in anticipation of what happens post-experimentation, there are three paths to consider.
As the scenarios illustrate, rather than resigning ourselves to risk-driven inevitability or continuing on the track of tension-filled continuity, there is a preferable path to consider: one that would entail embracing sustainable and responsible applications of generative AI in media creation while also addressing habits around its consumption.
Towards Regeneration
In the natural world, a sick ecosystem can be returned to its baseline state (adaptive, responsive, and resilient to extreme change) through regenerative practices that reverse damages and restore balance. These practices include remediation (the removal of sources of degradation, contaminants, and pollutants) and rehabilitation (the reinstatement of functional elements of an ecosystem on a degraded site, allowing it to regain partial functionality).
New visions, ideas, and experiments are already proliferating across pockets of the media ecosystem, regenerative in spirit and practice. Collectively, they seek to restore trust, distribute gains more equitably (even extending these to consumers), foster community, embrace quality over quantity, elevate diverse voices, reduce noise, and promote authentic expression. They are influencing how media businesses are built (e.g. underpinned by new or narrower distribution channels, funding and monetisation models, and decentralised structures), and reassuringly, they are also informing how new and existing media businesses can harness generative AI to enhance their propositions or visions, and even proactively contribute to wellbeing.
Regeneration Framework
To chart a path towards the preferable scenario of a regenerative media ecosystem, I propose repurposing the impact assessment framework introduced earlier. Just as an effective impact assessment requires us to take a holistic view of interdependent stakeholders (drivers & players), the pursuit of a resilient and adaptable media ecosystem must be equally as comprehensive and inclusive.
In this scenario, regulators would drive policies and incentives that prioritise individual and societal wellbeing, which would be reflected in media businesses’ creation practices generative AI (‘Sustainable Synthetics'). Simultaneously, consumers would be empowered to take greater responsibility for their media consumption habits, equipped with knowledge and tools to navigate the increasing prevalence of synthetics in their diets. Culture, too, would play a crucial role in raising awareness and catalysing beneficial change ('Inoculated Minds').
Sustainable Synthetics
As we established in our impact assessment, synthetic media’s supply chain is riddled with issues concerning the sustainability and ethics of generative AI. These include labour exploitation, biases, and misuse for mis-/disinformation (social), hallucination fallouts, IP, and copyright infringements (governance), and vast energy and water needs of computing infrastructures (environmental).
Taking accountability for these and pointing innovation efforts at mitigating social, governance, and environmental harms concerns all parties involved at the intersection of generative AI and media: those building foundation models, developing creation tools, distribution platforms, and creating content. While ‘greening’ generative AI may be a long-term project, opportunities for more immediate supply chain innovations are plentiful.
We also established that beyond frequently cited mis-/disinformation hazards (non-consensual Dupes, Nerve Agents), numerous other examples of incoming synthetic media experiences can present their consumers with psychological or cognitive risks over time. This includes overstimulation (dopamine-disregulating McContent), stress (cortisol-spiking AI-Enhanced and Mc Content), and loneliness (oxytocin-empty Dupes). Therefore, sustainability guidance must also acknowledge media psychology and neuroscience more holistically.
By its very nature, synthetic media is engineered, which means it can be wired for positive resonance (potentially even contribute to their wellbeing) while coexisting harmoniously and equitably with 'organic' media (after all, not everything has to be synthesised). If they seek to demonstrate genuine societal responsibility, media creators choosing to utilise generative AI should consider adopting a 'Sustainable Synthetics' mindset. Its characteristics include:
MIND-SAFETY | An intent to consider minds over clicks when bringing generative AI into the creation process, aiming to contribute genuine value (knowledge, connection, enrichment) to the ecosystem, consumers’ media diets and overall wellbeing
COLLABORATION | Resisting low-effort, algorithmically-driven defaults and choosing human-led cooperation instead, while seeking to retain original ideas and craft skills to maintain ecosystem diversity
DISCLOSURE | Transparency around generative AI inputs and the extent of synthesis (e.g. minimal, moderate, extensive) to avoid deception while retaining the opportunity for consumers to appreciate creators’ imagination and skill*
INCLUSION | Ensuring partial or fully synthesised outputs reflect the diversity of our world, human experiences, appearances, views, voices, and cultures, thereby fostering belonging, understanding, and social cohesion
ACCOUNTABILITY | New metrics favouring wellbeing and quality over the quantity, frequency, and intensity of engagement, creating greater liabilities across the media supply chain (incl. diversity of ideas and alignment with societal values) while addressing acute trust issues
*A note on ‘Disclosure’: this characteristic was inspired by an excellent piece of design fiction by Dre Labre at Design Fiction Daily (available to subscribers here), which proposes a set of ‘semiotic standards’ labels, disclosing what aspects of a film were synthesised and to what degree. While research on synthetic media resonance is limited, early experiments around generative art suggest that labels distinguishing human-made from AI art are valued for preventing deception and contributing to appreciation (which is justifiably low across some segments). Moreover, they retain the ability to marvel at and value human effort.
Furthermore, in this scenario, new standard-setting bodies, advocacy groups, and consumer watchdogs specialising in synthetic media oversight will be instrumental in promoting best practices, providing industry training resources, and influencing policy. Additionally, certification (e.g. B Corp) or independent reviews (e.g. Which?) may help consumers find trusted sources, make informed choices, and incentivise creators to adhere to 'Sustainable Synthetics' principles.
Inoculated Minds
While consumers may be unable to guide or limit the production and distribution of malnutritious media (synthetic or otherwise), they can, in theory, change how they relate to it and decide if it merits their attention or money (or attention instead of money, for as long as this model prevails). A reciprocal shift in demand could, in turn, have a knock-on effect on supply. While unhealthy habits will prop up dysfunction, healthier ones will collectively demand better practices and experiences from media creators - but this needs a catalyst.
To date, the trend towards digital hygiene (including the market underpinning it) has overwhelmingly focused on the impact of digital devices and apps on attention and cognition. However, as this series outlined, the what is becoming increasingly important to address in addition to the where, how, and how long. This requires addressing the content itself, not just the devices and platforms used for media consumption.
In line with this, innovative media literacy methods have emerged under the premise of building harm resistance via inoculation practices. Early efforts have sought to address mis-/disinformation harms and help individuals navigate a complex and fraught media landscape, tapping into the microlearning trend or game theory tactics to build critical thinking and filtering skills. While mis-/disinformation harm mitigation is justifiably urgent, it is equally important to expand the scope of inoculation to include lower-grade mind pollutants across all forms of media, both organic and synthetic.
Achieving this will require the adoption of healthier media consumption habits through balanced, diversified, and moderated diets. Actively prioritising mental and emotional wellbeing in the design and content of these diets lies at the heart of 'Inoculated Minds', a process that involves the following steps:
RESET | Paying closer attention to emotional and behavioural responses during and after media consumption in order to identify patterns around what feels beneficial vs. harmful; keeping track of time and habits
BALANCE | Removing poisons, minimising junk, re-evaluating delicious treats, and increasing intake of nutritious media experiences (this will be highly individual - e.g. as a sociocultural researcher, my Kardashian intake is technically nutritious, while for those in filler-debt, it is probably a poison)
SUSTAIN | Ongoing resilience ‘boosters’ to sustain reset and rebalanced diets, e.g. debunking practices, un-reality vs reality detection, fact-checking habit-building, etc. (think CPD, but for media literacy, synthetic or otherwise)
Diets are notoriously fickle, and getting started is difficult. In the absence of an Ozempic-style solution, the process towards healthier, balanced media diets must be made as effortless as possible. To ensure intentional and sustained pursuit, the case for media diets must be inspiring and their efficacy expertly legitimised. Knowledge, frameworks, and tools must be practical to adopt. Protocols and programs need to be malleable and adaptive to highly personal needs. Fair access to more beneficial alternatives is essential.
Even in its voluminous and fragmented form, pop culture will play a key role in creating a shared understanding of the impact of media on the mind, demonstrating how emotions, behaviours and relationships (with oneself and others) are affected and offer ideas for change. Critically, while cultural catalysts are likely to be most impactful when they subvert existing media trends and codes, they must resist playing to the dominant, algorithmically fixed rules to avoid becoming part of the problem they’re trying to solve.
Towards Implementation
The sculpture ‘The Holder of the Wasp Venom’ (2023), depicted at the top of this post, was part of a wider exhibition of artist Marguerite Humeau’s work that explored themes of collaboration and collective intelligence. Humeau has a particular interest in insect societies - as both survivors of damaged environments and examples of how cooperation might help us navigate our own challenges. Moreover, by drawing on the diverse skills of nature, AI, and craftspeople in her own practice, Humeau's work encourages us to reflect on the importance of interdependence and cooperation in shaping potent new ideas for better futures.
To be practical for industry implementation and consumer adoption, the ideas at the heart of this exploration, ‘Sustainable Synthetics’ and ‘Inoculated Minds’, will also require dialogue and collaboration - with information, social, and entertainment media creators; with technologists building the models and tools designated to synthesise media; with readers, viewers, listeners, curators, community leaders, fans, and stans; and with experts in these respective fields.
It goes without saying that responsible media practices and balanced media diets alone will not stem the global decline in wellbeing. Unhelpfully, contributing factors like economic inequalities, political polarisation, social isolation, and a lack of access to mental health resources make those affected more vulnerable to the adverse effects of unhealthy media consumption. Like its ultra-processed food counterpart, malnutritious media is a symptom of more profound systemic challenges that provide the conditions for negligent technology development and usage.
Addressing these deeper systemic challenges will require complex solutions and, to Humeau’s point, collaboration. Choosing to bring generative AI into the fold, responsibly and sustainably, might even help us imagine our way towards them.
Hi, thank you very much for reading. I really appreciate the time you took to explore with me. If you feel like discussing, adapting, or debating aspects of this exploration, I’d love to hear from you, so please leave a comment or email me (lucia@haveanicefuture.com).
- Lucia