CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC

Why we don't fully trust the internet – but can't log off either

- Words ARANYAA CHOWDHURY

There's something eerie about watching your phone guess what you want before you do. It knows when you're lonely, bored, had a fight, etc. It knows, too, that at 2:14 a.m., you'll probably click on that “cozy Paris shopping haul” video you've already seen twice. And so you do. Welcome to the age of suspicious optimism – a strange digital purgatory where we scroll with one eye open, equal parts enthralled and exhausted.

Because let's be honest: We don't trust the internet anymore. Between deepfakes, AI filters, and algorithmic déjà vu, it's a carnival of smoke and mirrors. But we can't look away either. We critique, we decode, we post “this is so fake” in the comments – right before saving the same video for “inspo.”

AI THAT MAKES YOU BELIEVE (ALMOST) ANYTHING