Yesterday I was helping to manage a protest against a massive data center that would be built next to my city's zoo. We were picketing outside a real estate firm, MarketStreet Enterprises, who plans to sell the land to DC Blox, the data center developer.
A man showed up alone with a fat stack of these full-color signs printed on expensive plastic stock (like what yard signs are made out of). Someone dropped some serious cash on these, which, suffice it to say, is uncommon for grassroots activism.
My first reaction was, "hell yeah." I spoke with sign man to thank him and get to know him, because building community relations is important. I asked if he was with any group, and he said yes, but couldn't specify because of an NDA. He said he wasn't trying to be a dick, but "we're definitely on your side." I also asked about the sweet signs. He was vague and said that they had had them made for the protest.
A little later, a protester told me they felt sketched by sign man, who was apparently not taking part in chants and mostly taking pictures of the attendees. This protester also asserted that the image on the signs was likely AI-generated, and a few others agreed. They posited that sign man was actually opposition, who brought AI-generated signs to make us look silly for using them to protest an AI data center. Luckily, only one or two people had picked up the signs in question. When I went to look for sign man again, he was gone.
If this truly was an opposition plant, it's downright devious. Or maybe it was someone genuinely aligned to our cause and kinda weird. I don't expect this sub to answer those questions, but I would like to know: Is this AI?
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