A.I. Technology is a threat to everyone

Michael Quinn

It’s a very scary time to be a well known public figure on popular apps like TikTok. Anything can be generated in one’s likeness if enough of your voice and image is captured on video. TikTok was not something that I was in a rush to join. Just like how all social media platforms start, to me it was an app for kids. Once corporations started TikTok accounts I decided to give it a try. As a New York historian I started making short TikTok videos of history lessons in Coney Island. Since I was already using other social media platforms to promote local restaurants and businesses since the beginning of the pandemic I decided to do the same with TikTok. It was great! Before long my TikTok account had over 100,000 followers and my videos were averaging over 10 million views per month! My knowledge and skills were being used to educate and to profile local businesses.

One day I was followed on TikTok by a young man named Joshua Block, who is also known as World of T Shirts. Joshua is a highly functioning autistic individual with a large TikTok following of over 2.6 million. We engaged briefly on a TikTok post debating over which borough is better Queens or Brooklyn? Obviously I chose Brooklyn. Since Josh is obsessed with all things New York he decided to message me to collaborate. Before long we were the toast of the town. That pre pandemic feeling that New York was back was intoxicating like a sling shot that was being pulled back slowly since 2020 and was ready to be released! At last! Let’s celebrate! However, Josh who started consuming alcohol and patronizing bars a year before I met him never knew what pre pandemic New York City nightlife was like. Eventually Josh discovered that the more he would drink on camera the more views he would get which would equal more money in his pocket. So many of the commentators on his videos were encouraging him to drink. So I decided to direct his attention elsewhere. I convinced him to start working out and focusing on his health. As a former tour guide I developed for him the World of T Shirts Experience as wholesome event held three times a week in which Josh’s fans walk with Josh throughout the city as he acts out his popular TikTok videos by singing songs as well as visiting some of his favorite locations. For the record I have NEVER received or requested to receive any money for these weekly events. I designed the World of T Shirts Experience as a wholesome non alcoholic outing for Josh. However, against my intentions and due to the demand of Josh’s so called ”fans” the event has turned into a bar crawl. Around this time I had Josh set up on Cameo. I figured that it would be potentially lucrative for him without engaging in alcohol consumption. Initially it was a big hit until Josh was tricked into saying racial slurs on video.

Over the past year over concern for Josh I have called every organization from Autism Speaks down the entire list. I can’t get him the resources he needs. They all say that he can’t be forced into support. He needs to make the decision on his own. Everyday I ask him if he’s ready for help and everyday he turns it down.

I first experienced the damaging effects of A.I. technology when a video was forwarded to me by a friend who came across it in a World of T Shirts Reddit group. I didn’t know anything about Reddit at the time. However, I quickly found out that A.I. technology and Reddit is more toxic than a speedball mixed with a bottle of Jack Daniels. Faceless, nameless trolls were sharing deepfake videos of me making it sound like I was dropping slurs. There are even fake videos of my likeness in blackface. Deepfake technology software is easy to access and can be acquired for as little as $30 a month. If there is enough of your likeness out there just about anything can be generated on video. This was the main point of the actor’s strike last year. Why should we hire Brad Pitt when we can easily generate him for the screen?

The World of T Shirts sub Reddit with its 20,000 plus members is the most vile composition of trolls that I have ever seen in my life. It’s nothing but lies and disgusting, hateful remarks directed towards Josh and I. It just spreads hatred and misinformation which results in completely false YouTube documentaries featuring Josh and I. These flat out lies about me equals money into the pockets of these YouTube creators. Saying terrible made up things about someone equals views which once again equals money. It’s the new National Enquirer. On a daily basis I receive death threats. Even my family members have been victims.

A Reddit group member posted a video of a stalker who in the middle of the night somehow charmed his way past the front desk security in my apartment building. The perpetrator knocked on my front door and recorded my terrified voice on the other side. I thought that someone had come to kill me. There needs to be federal protections in place. This is the wild west. Let’s start with regulating A.I. technology. Today.