Danger from 'cognitive garbage' produced by AI short films

My students tell stories about 'a poor boy who changed his life overnight', 'a betrayed girl who became a billionaire', 'possessing super powers'...

In the past two years, short films produced with artificial intelligence (AI) have appeared at breakneck speed on digital platforms. With just a few simple steps, one can create hundreds of episodes with shocking details, absurd twists, and stories designed to stimulate viewers' strongest emotions. It is worth mentioning that a lot of that content does not aim at artistic, educational or humanistic value but only focuses on a single goal: retaining viewers for as long as possible.

I often interact with many students, practitioners and young people. What makes me think is not that they watch AI movies, but how they perceive that content as part of reality. There are students who tell stories about "a poor guy who changed his life overnight", "a girl who was betrayed and became a billionaire", "an ordinary guy who suddenly possessed superpowers". Those stories appear with such density that viewers begin to feel that real life is too pale, too slow and too lacking in miracles. That is the most dangerous mechanism of "information pollution".

I think the biggest implications are not the quality of individual AI movies. What's more worrying is the total amount of malicious information they generate. A ridiculous video may not be harmful. Ten ridiculous videos are not necessarily harmful. But thousands of videos appearing every day, over many years, will create a distorted cognitive environment.

When sensational content is constantly rewarded with views and advertising revenue, genuine creators begin to be at a disadvantage. Works that require intellectual, moral and emotional investment become more difficult to compete with mass-produced products that appeal to instincts. It's not just a competition over content. It is a competition about the future of culture.

A society cannot develop sustainably if its citizens spend most of their time on stories that are far from reality. An education cannot be successful if schools teach critical thinking during the day but at night students are taught by algorithms to believe in irrational things.

Many countries have begun to tighten management of unrealistic AI content, especially products aimed at teenagers. These moves stem from concerns about the impact on young people's awareness, behavior and digital cultural environment. In Vietnam, the story should not stop at whether to ban or not? What is more important is building a healthy information ecosystem.

We have spent decades protecting our water, air and habitat. Perhaps now, we also need to pay similar attention to the information environment. Because if a polluted river can damage the health of a community, then a cyberspace filled with "cognitive garbage" can completely damage the future of an entire generation. And that future is being shaped every minute and every hour on the phone screen that each of us holds in our hands.

Vu Thi Minh Huyen