Yes. I did think that. Because you're some rando on the internet that said some shit in text that indicated that you did not know that. So I goofed on ya. Its all good :)
atomdmac
It's true that manipulation of information has been the practice of the powerful for a long time, but I don't think it's accurate to say that the degree or scale to which it's been possible to do has remained the same. As an analogy, consider that both knives and nuclear bombs have the ability to kill people while having quite different implications, particularly with regard to the health and flourishing of our species.
Obviously AI isn't all bad. It's not even "bad". It just is. But the blast radius of a Bad Decision by a Bad Actor is much wider if armed with these new tools.
Would you personally believe a company if it told you what it's internal motivations were? For me I guess it would depend on the company but I struggle to think of a company that I would trust in this regard. That's especially true when it comes to tech companies which often are operate unprofitably for long stretches of time with the assumption being that they'll be able to make massive profits in the future.
The Left: its called an Allow List now, you racists! The Right: its called the Gulf of America, you commies!
Jesus, we're pathetic.