A campaign of brats, coconuts and brain rot

The US presidential contest slated for 5 November 2024 is just seven weeks away. It is a sign of the times that words emerging from what can be considered the most important political contest in the world now include terms like coconuts, brats, brain rot, and deep fakes.

US presidential elections are always fascinating, and the use of technology during campaigns there, from the famous television debate between John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960, has shaped politics globally. Given such a precedent, what you see there now could well become the norm elsewhere in a few years.

The Indian parliamentary elections held earlier this year did see active social media engagement, but the fear of deep fakes and misuse of artificial intelligence influencing the outcome was largely unfounded.

Even in Kerala, where meme makers have large followings, the political impact of their creations was limited to mud-slinging by supporters of different parties.

Unlike in India, what happens in the United States rarely stays within its borders, and the ripple effects extend far beyond its shores. It is in this context that the use of technology and social media generates global interest.

Since the shock withdrawal of the current president, Joe Biden, from the race on 21 July, the internet has been in overdrive, with memes, trolls, and deep fakes appearing with increasing frequency.

While right-wing supporters of Republican candidate Donald Trump are known for using the internet to spread conspiracy theories, the emergence of Kamala Harris as a candidate has sparked a surge in social media activity from rejuvenated Democratic Party supporters.

A clip posted on Twitter, now called X, that went viral soon after Harris was tipped as the candidate would have baffled many traditional political analysts. But it illustrated how social media trends influence politics.

It was unlike the usual political messages and wasn’t released by the Democrats. Still, millions watched it. The video was created by Ryan Long, a 22-year-old college student, and showed Harris laughing and dancing, sandwiched between clips of her speeches made last year.

In one of the speeches, Harris says: “Everything is in context. My mother […] would give us a hard time sometimes, and she would say to us, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people! You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?’”

Nutty Flavour

Many Indians would be familiar with such admonitions from parents. So, the words of Shyamala Gopalan, who was born in Tamil Nadu and moved to the US in 1958, wouldn’t have raised many eyebrows here.

But in the US, this sounded like Greek to many, who struggled to grasp the meaning or context of the mother’s words. To them, it came across as weird, bordering on the exotic.

British experimental pop artist Charli XCX added to Harris’ allure when she tweeted, “Kamala IS brat,” referencing her latest album titled Brat. The tweet garnered over 300,000 likes, according to TechCrunch.

Some analysts suggest that the concept of “brat” is the antithesis of polished, highly groomed celebrities and resonates with the Gen Z audience.

Another unexpected tech twist came when the Harris campaign used Zoom to hold virtual rallies for supporters, which also brought in millions of dollars. One such event, titled “White Women: Answer the Call”, attracted over 200,000 attendees, reportedly making it the largest Zoom meeting in history, according to Axios.

“This unprecedented use of virtual rallies is an extension of the Harris campaign’s ultra-online, meme-heavy entrance into the race,” the report said.

Brain Rot

The focus on online trends is also reflected in her new campaign messages, reported 404 Media. It highlighted that some clips released by the Harris team combine unrelated visuals purely to capture attention.

Apparently, the overload of short videos on social media has further reduced the audience's attention span. So many successful TikTok influencers add unrelated clips to their creations just to grab viewers’ attention.

“We have a condition that has come to be known online as ‘brain rot’, meaning we need at least two videos playing at the same time to hold our attention for more than just a few seconds, or videos that are so potently absurd they can’t be ignored,” said the report. Like many social media trends, this innovation also comes from the porn industry.

The use of unrelated pictures isn’t limited to TikTok, as platforms like Facebook are also seeing pictures entirely disconnected from the message being used just to attract attention.

The Trump camp, meanwhile, gained momentum when JD Vance was selected as the vice-presidential nominee. As a former venture capitalist and lawyer based in Silicon Valley, Vance has strong ties to the tech world. Heavyweights like Peter Thiel have already thrown their support behind the Trump-Vance team.

Divided Valley

After Harris became the nominee, stalwarts like LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and venture capitalist Vinod Khosla endorsed her.

With issues such as the development of artificial intelligence and restrictions on H-1B visas set to impact US tech companies, both sides are pushing their agendas with vigour.

A key player in this dynamic will be Elon Musk, who has openly endorsed Trump and is hobnobbing with the idea of joining the Trump administration if he wins the presidency. It will be interesting to see how this volatile mix plays out, as both Trump and Musk are temperamental and are known more for firing rather than hiring.

If Musk becomes part of the US administration, the direction of AI research and restrictions on Chinese tech firms could undergo profound changes, given his strong views on such issues.

While tech titans debate these matters, social media continues its intense scrutiny of the candidates. Biden fell by the wayside after his inability to deliver coherent responses during the first presidential debate, and now similar accusations are being levelled at Trump. So, expect more fireworks on that front.

An interesting point raised is the role of traditional media. As Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, recently wrote, journalists have found themselves trying to make sense of the wild ramblings of political leaders.

He suggests that editors should instead be asking, “What if the actual story is that politics today makes no sense?”

That might be advice the Indian media could benefit from in large doses.

A clear-headed view

Abhishek Singh, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, deserves a pat on his back for clarity. His ministry has set a lofty goal of creating a dataset base to help train artificial intelligence platforms, starting with the 500,000 sets the government currently holds. However, Singh candidly admitted that very few of these datasets are useful. “We might have lots of datasets, but how many are actually usable for the AI ecosystem? Very few. There are challenges with data standards, metadata standards, privacy preservation tools, the lack of anonymisation, and so on. So there are multiple challenges there,” he said. At least someone in the government understands that rolling out a few tall claims does little to help those on the ground.

Singh also mentioned at the Global AI Summit, organised by the Telangana government, that India will have 50,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) over the next 2-3 years to support the AI sector. The Hindu Businessline also reports that the government has launched an application development initiative where 14 problem statements were identified across five themes: education, agriculture, healthcare, flood forecasting, climate change, and governance.

Onam comes early for gamers

The national festival of Kerala, Onam, is just a week away. But for some game enthusiasts in the state, the festivities have already begun, thanks to the All Kerala Esports Federation’s Gaming Utsav. The 22 preliminary rounds led to the selection of 220 finalists who assembled in Kochi to compete for the crowns on September 7. The Valorant contest saw thousands of participants in the early rounds, which started on 13 August and were spread from Kannur in the north to Trivandrum in the south. AKEF says that the venues included 10 colleges, with both students and faculty offering their support. Amal Arjun of AKEF says the enthusiastic response has prompted them to plan more such tournaments, including e-football contests.

New way for quick DNA analysis

The lack of a quick way to analyse evidence in sexual assault cases has been a major issue for investigators worldwide. The current DNA tests involve several steps and can only be conducted in specialised labs, leading to delays that could take weeks. A research team in Canada has simplified the process by reducing the number of manual steps needed to isolate the assailant’s DNA from 13 to five, reports News Medical. This new approach could lead to a mobile solution that doesn’t require a lab, allowing testing to be done at a hospital where a victim would typically be taken. Lead author of the study, Mohammed Elsayed, says the current focus is on making the process commercially viable and widely accessible.

AI scam that hit the right notes

Michael Smith, a 52-year-old musician, made it to the headlines recently, not for music though. He has been charged over an ingenious plan to defraud streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple and Amazon. Smith created thousands of AI-generated tracks, streamed them billions of times, and generated fake fans to listen to them. He raked in 10 million US dollars in royalties, according to prosecutors. The New York Times reveals that he began the fraud a few years ago, evading detection by creating thousands of fake profiles to upload the songs. However, it seems the fat lady has finally sung for Smith.