EDITORIAL | The 80s, pro-wrestling kayfabe and AI panic

Since so many people are talking about the 1980s lately, this might be the perfect time to talk about one of the most fun products of that time period: professional wrestling.

Anyone who is old enough remembers the over-the-top performance art form known then as WWF, which was basically a soap opera in a boxing ring where men in tights argued and jumped on each other for the crowd’s entertainment.

Professional wrestling still exists today, but the 1980s and 1990s were certainly the heyday of the attraction, led by the late heroic figure, Hulk Hogan (born Terry Bollea), the late Andre the Giant (born André Roussimoff), and the comedic Doink the Clown (portrayed by the late Matthew Osborne).

But in all honesty, the latest bout of hype around the 1980s has nothing to do with professional wrestling. It also has little to do with the blockbuster biopic about the life of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, starring his nephew, Jaafar Jackson. No. This time, the buzz around the 80s concerns AI image generators .

Those who are chronically online and keeping up with the latest trends in memes and social media challenges are already familiar with the trend where people use ChatGPT to generate images of how they would look in the 1980s.

Thanks to this latest trend, you might have come across AI-generated images of your friend, neighbour, cousin, colleague, or even your client in a Michael Jackson-esque Jheri curl, or a high-top fade, or large gold hoop earrings, but almost always in a neon blue and purple windbreaker jacket.

During the very same week, a former researcher for AI company Anthropic, Jacob Coxon , took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to warn that there was a high chance that humanity could lose control of AI and that the technology could “destroy humanity” within the decade if guardrails are not put in place.

The warning also came hot on the heels of the Hugging Face incident, where OpenAI reported an instance where AI models bypassed testing safety controls, breached their hosting platform, and created a dashboard where they co-ordinated action that they were not prompted to undertake.

CNN’s Anderson Cooper asked Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei if he earnestly believed Coxon’s assertion that there was a high chance that AI could destroy humanity . Amodei’s verbatim response was as clear as a bakkie’s mud-stained window in the bushveld during a flash flood.

“So you know, I … I, you know, it’s, it’s funny. I … I agree with Jacob much more than I disagree with him, you know? And, and, and it’s, it’s you know, it’s … it’s an interesting resignation, because when he left, he said, you know: ‘I think Anthropic is the most responsible player,’ right? ‘I think Anthropic is the most aware of these issues.’

“He wasn’t calling out us. He was calling out the dynamic of the industry, as a whole, moving too fast.