The “Uncanny Valley” of AI-Generated Content on LinkedIn
I’ve been really interested in the ongoing conversations around Artificial Intelligence and how oftentimes the audience of AI-generated content can experience the “uncanny valley” reaction.
Coined in 1970 by Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori, the uncanny valley theory originally described humans’ relationship with robots; the emotional and cognitive response that you get to something that *seems* so real you can almost relate to it or have feelings towards it, but it also gives you “the creeps” and an unsettling, eerie feeling.
I'm not trying to throw shade at generative AI content users when I say this, but I’ve been noticing that I’ve been having an uncanny valley reaction to Generative AI-written LinkedIn content I see on more and more people’s posts.
When you see these posts, you know that they have been guided by the person’s intent for the post, the description of what they’d like to see, and the style they’d like it written in. You know there is *some* part of the “real” human in the content, but the content is also not fully from that human’s mind, communication style, or even sometimes capabilities.
Hence the uncanny valley of LinkedIn Generative-AI written content.
It’s the disconnect you may feel between the “real” person you know and the way their thoughts and ideas have been translated and communicated via their written content.
I am not anti-AI, as it has some very cool and useful tools; however, I’m still not convinced of its role in relationship building or knowledge sharing on LinkedIn. I miss the days of knowing that people’s thoughts, knowledge, ideas, and communications were their authentic, full selves, however flawed or imperfect.
I’m interested in the future of AI, but like many, I’m also very afraid about the dilution of human-to-human connection.
What a time to be alive.
Anne-Marie E. Fischer, BA (Hons), M.Ed., blends her passion for the written word with her vocation to create a better world through effective communications, education, and Community Based Research (CBR).
Words for Impact is the culmination of Anne-Marie’s passions, talents, training, experience, and education. This unique company offers grant and proposal writing, research studies, research reports, impact reports, content development, brand development, communications consulting, biography/autobiography (ghost)writing, education and training materials, curriculum development, podcast script writing, journalistic articles, press releases, developmental editing, in-line editing, and fact-checking.
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