Patti Harrison tells WIRED why social media and AI feel harder to trust

In short: Comedian Patti Harrison told WIRED that social media and fast-moving AI tools are making it harder for people to know what is real and what is a joke.

What's going on

In a new interview with WIRED, comedian and actor Patti Harrison discussed how her relationship with tech has changed, from early excitement to frustration and distrust. Harrison is known for TV roles and for live shows, including bits where she impersonates a Boston Dynamics robot dog (a real robot that looks and moves like a dog).

Harrison said social media used to feel more like a place you chose to visit, and where you mostly saw posts from people you followed. Now, she argues, algorithms (automatic systems that decide what you see) often push posts to strangers. She said that can make jokes land badly, since people may see a single image or line without context. She also described feeling that platforms reward outrage, because angry posts often spread faster.

On AI, Harrison said she finds the technology interesting, and mentioned using tools like DALL-E, which generates images from text prompts (like typing a description and getting a picture). But she said she is concerned about how quickly AI is being put into everyday products without enough checks, and about the environmental cost of data centers (large buildings full of computers that run online services).

What to watch

Harrison’s comments reflect a broader shift in how people talk about online life, including worries about AI-generated “slop” and confusion over what is real. If more creators pull back from posting clips and focus on in-person shows, it could be a sign that live, offline experiences are becoming more valuable, like choosing a face-to-face conversation over a noisy group chat.

Source: Wired