“GTA 6 Keeps Trending Despite Zero New Info,” is a headline I wrote again in 2021. It’s much more true right now, besides that the unfold of generative AI instruments now makes it simpler than ever to trick folks into pondering there’s new information about Rockstar’s delayed open-world sequel. With only a few clicks, you may spawn convincing faux footage and ship it masquerading across the web till it turns into embedded within the algorithmic equipment and goes viral in a technique or one other. The stakes are low, however it’s an ideal instance of how being on-line retains getting worse.
“GTA 6 ALERT – EXTREMELY SERIOUS SITUATION” the verified X account Zap Actu GTA6 posted on Tuesday. It was re-sharing allegedly leaked footage of the upcoming sport discovered on TikTok and hyping it up as a result of “sheer level of realism” together with “shockingly lifelike” NPCs and a “dynamic weather system unlike anything seen in GTA V.” The footage is one hundred pc faux, however that didn’t cease the publish from producing over 4.2 million impressions because it zipped round Elon Musk’s third-rate Reddit knock-off.
It illustrates the collision of three distinct however associated developments: industrial-grade AI slop, algorithms designed to make that slop go viral, and the enshitification of a significant social media platform managed by a single, unhinged, soon-to-be trillionaire. None of this felt nice 4 years in the past, however my god, how shortly did all of it get a lot, a lot worse.
The issue’s not remoted to X, both. Earlier this 12 months, YouTuber Jeffery Phillips made it his mission to persuade Google that GTA 6 had a twerk button. He did this just by posting again and again on X and Reddit about how the twerk button was actual. The suggestions loop ultimately succeeded at tricking Google’s internet-scrapping AI Overview search device.
“I think I spent a total of three months doing this ‘challenge,’ he told Polygon last month. “I started it in July and it was finished late September. I have no idea how much time I spent posting but it wasn’t an insane amount. Some days I’d just post one or two things.”
It’s probably the most brazen instance of Google’s new AI search device getting suckered into such a high-profile and apparent mistake, however there are tons of smaller errors it makes that nobody ever bothers to speak about or make a giant deal out of, like what occurred to Steam’s service provider sim Trash Goblin, a sport about sharpening up junk and promoting it. Its builders discovered that Google saved giving gamers incorrect details about the sport and the way it works.
“As a programmer, if I type something into a computer, I expect it to give out the same output over and over,” one in every of its builders told Game File. “Google results give something different every time, in some of these cases. They’re not learning better each time. Sometimes you get the right thing, and the next time you get something wrong again.”
However Google isn’t simply the gateway to the written web. It additionally controls YouTube. Earlier this month, it despatched 1000’s of individuals to a faux GTA 6 trailer that it occurred to advocate to people via notification on their phones. Open “Grand Theft Auto VI – Final Trailer (2026) Rockstar Games” and also you’ll be handled to an elaborate AI-made fan idea trailer for what somebody thinks the sport may very well be like.
It has over 600,000 views, 18,000 downvotes, and a couple of,000 feedback. “No way everyone sent here by google lmao,” reads the highest one with over 7,000 likes. “Google fucking trolled us lmao,” reads the second. “Screw that Google notification,” reads the third. My favourite remark summed up this unconventional rickroll like this: “Ay no way we getting trolled by Google for a gta6 AI trailer before GTA 6.”
For a lot of its latest historical past, the web has been a negotiation between people and algorithms. People make and share stuff. The algorithms assist set up and type it. A couple of folks get very wealthy. Hopefully, the remainder of us come away barely higher knowledgeable or at the least entertained. Generative AI threatens to explode that total deal. It was by no means excellent to start with, however what’s coming to switch it will be a lot worse.
