tothechaos

[tothechaos]

“I’m always trying to figure out what to say about this god damn song. Part of me wants to say look, it’s about revenge, but as soon as I say that… no, that’s not quite it. Part of me wants to say it’s about the satisfaction of not needing revenge… and i say no, that’s some new age stuff. I think it’s a song about the moment in your quest for revenge when you learn to embrace the futility of it. The moment where you know the thing you want is ridiculous and pompous and a terrible thing to want anyway. The direction in which you’re headed is not the direction you want to go, yet you’re going to head that way a while longer cause that’s just the kind of person you are.”

— John Darnielle

[tothechaos]

I do not think it will shock anyone to learn that big tech is aggressively pushing AI products. But the extent to which they have done so might. The sheer ubiquity of AI means that we take for ground the countless ways, many invisible, that these products and features are foisted on us—and how Silicon Valley companies have systematically designed and deployed AI products onto their existing platforms in an effort to accelerate adoption. It also happens to be the subject of a new study by design scholars Nolwenn Maudet, Anaëlle Beignon, and Thomas Thibault, who looked at hundreds of instances of how AI has been deployed, highlighted, and advertised by Google, Meta, Adobe, SnapChat, and others, and analyzed them for a study called “Imposing AI: Deceptive design patterns against sustainability.” They also present the results in a handy guide, with illustrated examples called, aptly: “How tech companies are pushing us to use AI.” (It’s translated from the French, hence the sometimes awkward phrasings.) The study is a stark reminder that AI has reached ubiquity not necessarily because users around the globe are demanding AI products, but for reasons often closer to the opposite. Big tech’s deployment of AI has been both relentless and methodical, the study finds. By inserting AI features onto the top of messaging apps and social media, where it’s all but unignorable, by deploying pop-ups and unsubtle design tricks to direct users to AI on the interface, or by pushing prompts to use AI outright, AI is being imposed on billions of users, rather than eagerly adopted. Even when it’s not obvious to the user, tech companies are often engaged in what the designers call a “manipulation of visual choice architecture” that tilts users towards AI products. As the authors point out, on many platforms, “AI-based features are discretely favored among others using UI/UX design.” Calls to use AI products frequently interrupt regular use of software, whether through pop-ups, “tooltips,” or moving icons. AI tools are given more dedicated buttons to encourage interaction, and are often colored the same, even across companies — mauve; a mellowed purple-blue tone that the design scholars say is meant to connote magic. Taken alone, little of this will be shocking to anyone who has paid attention to the major tech platforms over the last few years. But seeing the litany of examples collected, one after another, I found that the study helped underline the extent to which billions of users have been force-fed AI products.

23 July 2025

[tothechaos]

hi! i moved recently and wont have an interview coming up until the 8th, so im between jobs right now. once more i have five slots open and Plenty Of Time! send a dm if youre interested in a comm!

hiiiii im between jobs right now and need things like groceries so im opening 3 emergency commissions slots! prices are listed in USD.

will do: player characters, OCs, ship art, and existing characters (e.g. phoenix wright). i dont have much practice with anthro but im willing to give it a shot if its what you want from me

will not do: gore, nsfw, mecha, incest, pedophilia

i withhold the right to refuse a commission for any reason

if you have original characters, please send me visual reference (character sheet, piccrew, etc)

payment will be via paypal invoice. if interested, send me a dm!

[tothechaos]

having one of those moments where i really need a cigarette*

*i dont smoke

[tothechaos]

If I was a knight would you let me swear oaths to you be honest

[tothechaos]

Today’s fish thing are these fish box cutters!

[tothechaos]

should I get a masters or jump into a river and swim away forever. vote now

[tothechaos]

[tothechaos]

not to be a number nerd on main but 2025 (45^2) will be the only square year most of us ever experience. the last one was 1936 and the next one will be 2116

[tothechaos]

The problem is I always want to dm my mutuals some shit like "I consider you an ally to my cause"

[tothechaos]

[tothechaos]

ideal living situation is what i call the 'sitcom special' : having all your closest friends live in the same apartment building or neighborhood where you each have your own space but can wander in and out of eachothers homes at will, seemingly always welcome and never at bad times. and also all of you only have jobs when its important to the plot.

[tothechaos]

i think its a good thing we dont live on mars, imagine how annoying the people whod climbed olympus mons would be

[tothechaos]

dude i love how chill and selfless you are 😄 by any chance is your wildest fantasy to be Useful?

[tothechaos]

its important as a creative to have an idea which is 1. too involved 2. too expensive 3. some combination thereof, that you keep on the backburner at all times. whether or not you will actually go through with this idea is irrelevant; the important thing is to keep it simmering constantly, and to keep adding stuff into it. that thing is now one of those forever soups, and when your current creative meal is a little too dry? pour a little soup on that bitch.

[tothechaos]

if you’ve been following me for 4+ years i’m certain you could make a chart of every character i’ve gotten attached to and it would tell you more about me than any therapist’s notes ever could. but we don’t have the time for that. there are other things at hand. do not even worry about it. next exhibit. we’re moving along. we’re walking