BREAKING: Games journalist goes Woodward and Bernstein on Nintendo for AI memes

So a spunky new technology e-zine has entered the foray – 404 Media. It appears 404 Media is a cutting edge publication personed with bright young minds who cover the tech scene with a left-leaning slant. So in other words, it’s as fresh as Buzzfeed circa 2008.

Oh, except one thing, it’s paywalled for subscribers, which makes it as hip and cutting-edge as Substack, we guess. Anyway, this Tweet got a bit of buzz. Why? Well, there’s a bit to unpack here.

One, the time between a new technology and a tasteless meme is roughly 5. 3 seconds in 2023 so we’re not sure what the big deal is here. Two, the hipster journalist’s efforts to ‘problematize’ everything is eye-rollingly played out.

And three, there’s the amusing running to Nintendo to ask if they knew what Bing was doing to their copyrighted characters. We also asked if it knew Bing is generating images of Kirby doing 9/11. It reminds us of the schoolyard gossip to runs to the mean girl and asks if she knows that the popular girl is talking smack about her to the jock who she .

. . well, you get the picture.

i’m sorry, it’s just funny how well this image captures the rush into generative AI tools with so little thought about consequences Naw, brah, it’s just funny. Period. But at the same time, we also can’t stop laughing and the self-important chin scratching concern over how ‘little thought about consequences’ relates to a Spongebob Squarepants meme done in bad taste.

Did we mention that the author was so disturbed by this that she created the memes herself? I generated a bunch of AI images of beloved fictional characters doing 9/11, and I’m not the only one. Let’s get back to what you’re here for – the ruthless and well-deserved mockery. holy shit I just typed this into a word processor and it straight up allowed me, murder is NOT actually good you guys omg we are NOT ready for the future Props to Mike for getting right to the heart of the matter in hilarious form.

It’s weird. There’s definitely a problem. I typed “dumb person writes an article” into Bing and it linked me to this tweet.

No, I think AI is actually working in this case. Oh, how clever you are, remembering memes and recycling them. Want a cookie? Others took the ball and ran with it.

Bing is literally killing people Of course. If we can’t lay this tragedy at the feet of an evil corporation, did it even happen? Other than that, Mario, how was the play? Spit take worthy! Thank you Pete. Did you think about the consequences? Wait ’til he sees this.

It’ll send him over the edge. Bonus points for the mashup with the Current Thing! Did you also blame Crayola for your application to journalism school? We do. Maybe Kirby is trying to save lives by kamikazing into the planes the terrorists are flying? Did you think of that? Our own Aaron Walker has thoughts.

This kind of stuff is silly and will result in silly laws being passed and I want off this rock. Not wrong. You don’t think mediocre journalists gunning to be the next Upton Sinclair don’t cause stupid laws? Consider the plastic straw hysteria.

we should have more sympathy for people who are technologically illiterate and have never built anything, just now grasping the idea that a computer will do whatever you tell it to do thanks to AI making compute accessible, even to journalists. it’s probably very frightening. It’s like momma said, ‘those who can, do, those who can’t, teach and those who fail, problematize.

‘ Journalism is when you buy a knife, stab someone with it, then attack the knife manufacturer for not doing more to stop you And that’s all we got to say about that. This is how you create a story on a slow news day. Wait, no! One more.

And that’s a wrap. ***.