{"id":3491258,"date":"2026-07-23T16:28:50","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T16:28:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/techingeek.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/meta-debuted-a-fresh-ai-optimism-advertisement-accompanied-by-a-song-centered-on-human-extinction\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T16:28:50","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T16:28:50","slug":"meta-debuted-a-fresh-ai-optimism-advertisement-accompanied-by-a-song-centered-on-human-extinction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techingeek.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/meta-debuted-a-fresh-ai-optimism-advertisement-accompanied-by-a-song-centered-on-human-extinction\/","title":{"rendered":"Meta debuted a fresh AI optimism advertisement accompanied by a song centered on human extinction."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Meta\u2019s latest ad opens with a monochrome image of an eye, revealing the perspective of someone who is bombarded with frantic news headlines regarding AI\u2019s potential to steal our jobs, divide us, and trigger a worldwide catastrophe.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome individuals will convince you that AI is going to diminish our connections. That it\u2019s going to abandon us,\u201d a voiceover narrates. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t disagree more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abruptly, the video transitions to vibrant color, depicting various individuals awakening with smiles. Next, we witness a couple twirling on a rooftop, gesturing at a rainbow; a group of teenagers splashing in a lake; a child joyfully running through a field; friends embracing after separation.<\/p>\n

\u201cLabel us as optimists. Label us as dreamers. Label us however you wish. But we\u2019re betting on humanity, and we favor those odds,\u201d the voiceover continues. \u201cThe future belongs to everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a lovely notion \u2014 and quite convenient for a corporation investing enormous sums into the belief that AI will transform humanity. However, the most peculiar aspect of the advertisement isn\u2019t the portrayal of these joyful instances through social media snapshots; it\u2019s the accompanying soundtrack \u2014 the David Bowie song \u201cFive Years.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re unfamiliar with this song, I encourage you to listen, review the lyrics, and ponder its meaning. It appears clear to me, but having studied poetry during my college years, I consulted my brother \u2014 a blockchain analyst with a fondness for Claude Code who doesn\u2019t read for leisure \u2014 to see if he could determine the song’s message.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first, I thought it was about climate change, then a zombie apocalypse, and finally an asteroid striking the earth,\u201d he said. He\u2019s right. The song conveys a scenario where humanity panics upon realizing they will face extinction in five years.<\/p>\n

Image Credits:<\/strong>Texts from my brother, a consenting participant in this literary experiment<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For those unfamiliar with Bowie’s music, this song might come across as upbeat and motivational, aligning with the ad’s positive vibe. The segment of the song selected for the advertisement probably emphasizes the word \u201cpeople\u201d repeatedly, and without understanding its context, the true meaning remains unclear.<\/p>\n

However, examining the lines just before this excerpt:<\/p>\n

\n

News had just come over
We had five years left to cry in
News guy wept and told us
Earth was really dying
Cried so much his face was wet
Then I knew he was not lying<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

We \u201chad five years left to cry in,\u201d and \u201cthe earth was really dying.\u201d It\u2019s quite grim.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not comforting to persuade people that AI is going to improve the world while a song about the apocalypse plays in the background; nonetheless, this contradictory musical selection appears to have gone unnoticed by everyone at Meta, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeta has always believed in empowering people to share, connect, and shape their world as they wish,\u201d he stated alongside the video. \u201cAs we embrace this new wave with AI, we maintain that the future belongs to everyone. We\u2019re committed to equipping every individual with the tools to achieve their full potential and ensuring that the advantages of technology reach everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other hand, tech leaders are not particularly renowned for their literary critique capabilities. Meta\u2019s Oculus previously distributed copies of the science fiction work \u201cReady Player One\u201d to incoming staff, a narrative set in a dystopian realm where a tech enterprise focused on virtual reality products becomes extraordinarily powerful and malevolent. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has explicitly stated inspiration drawn from the film \u201cHer,\u201d which cautions about the potential dangers when we utilize AI for emotional dependency. Palantir, a corporation constructing AI surveillance frameworks for the government, is named after Palantir, a seeing stone from the \u201cLord of the Rings\u201d that the Dark Lord employs to observe his foes. Elon Musk is currently expressing frustration over the \u201caccuracies\u201d found in Christopher Nolan\u2019s blockbuster adaptation of \u201cThe Odyssey,\u201d a tale that contains wonderfully realistic elements like sea monsters, magic, and divine intervention. These individuals convincingly argue for the importance of studying the humanities.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Sci-Fi Author: In my book I invented the Torment Nexus as a cautionary tale<\/p>\n

Tech Company: At long last, we have created the Torment Nexus from classic sci-fi novel Don’t Create The Torment Nexus<\/p>\n

\u2014 Alex Blechman (@AlexBlechman) November 8, 2021<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Meta isn\u2019t alone in its recent marketing missteps. Instead of hastily pursuing AGI development, leading AI firms appear to be in a contest to produce the most unsettling advertisement. A few weeks ago, Anthropic debuted a chilling video of its own. As my colleague Lucas Ropek described:<\/p>\n

\n

The advertisement starts with footage of a burning house (not exactly a joyful beginning) before shifting to a series of still photos. These visuals feature a crowd of individuals being monitored by facial recognition, a homeless person resting on the pavement, endless rows of gravestones in a cemetery, and what looks like a group of workers laboring in a mine extracting (presumably) raw materials for smartphones.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a voiceover poses various questions such as \u201cCan AI be trusted?\u201d and \u201cWho\u2019s going to apply the brakes if necessary?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Anthropic is attempting to assure us that it is aware of the dangers AI presents to society, and thus it is the company that can be trusted to develop AI with responsibility. However, the actual impression it leaves aligns more with the tone of Bowie\u2019s \u201cFive Years.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reacted to the Anthropic advertisement, stating, \u201cI thought this was satire, kept looking for the handle to be spelled c1audeai or something.\u201d<\/p>\n

As these firms vie for control over the public perception of AI, their attempts don\u2019t appear to be yielding significant results. A recent Pew survey revealed that merely 16% of Americans expect AI\u2019s societal impact over the next two decades to be positive, while 40% believe it will have negative effects. Better luck next time, Meta.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn\u2019t affect our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\n

Meta\u2019s latest ad opens with a monochrome image of an eye, revealing the perspective of someone who is bombarded with frantic news headlines regarding AI\u2019s potential to steal our jobs, divide us, and trigger a worldwide catastrophe.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome individuals will convince you that AI is going to diminish our connections. That it\u2019s going to abandon us,\u201d a voiceover narrates. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t disagree more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abruptly, the video transitions to vibrant color, depicting various individuals awakening with smiles. Next, we witness a couple twirling on a rooftop, gesturing at a rainbow; a group of teenagers splashing in a lake; a child joyfully running through a field; friends embracing after separation.<\/p>\n

\u201cLabel us as optimists. Label us as dreamers. Label us however you wish. But we\u2019re betting on humanity, and we favor those odds,\u201d the voiceover continues. \u201cThe future belongs to everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a lovely notion \u2014 and quite convenient for a corporation investing enormous sums into the belief that AI will transform humanity. However, the most peculiar aspect of the advertisement isn\u2019t the portrayal of these joyful instances through social media snapshots; it\u2019s the accompanying soundtrack \u2014 the David Bowie song \u201cFive Years.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re unfamiliar with this song, I encourage you to listen, review the lyrics, and ponder its meaning. It appears clear to me, but having studied poetry during my college years, I consulted my brother \u2014 a blockchain analyst with a fondness for Claude Code who doesn\u2019t read for leisure \u2014 to see if he could determine the song’s message.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first, I thought it was about climate change, then a zombie apocalypse, and finally an asteroid striking the earth,\u201d he said. He\u2019s right. The song conveys a scenario where humanity panics upon realizing they will face extinction in five years.<\/p>\n

Image Credits:<\/strong>Texts from my brother, a consenting participant in this literary experiment<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For those unfamiliar with Bowie’s music, this song might come across as upbeat and motivational, aligning with the ad’s positive vibe. The segment of the song selected for the advertisement probably emphasizes the word \u201cpeople\u201d repeatedly, and without understanding its context, the true meaning remains unclear.<\/p>\n

However, examining the lines just before this excerpt:<\/p>\n

\n

News had just come over
We had five years left to cry in
News guy wept and told us
Earth was really dying
Cried so much his face was wet
Then I knew he was not lying<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

We \u201chad five years left to cry in,\u201d and \u201cthe earth was really dying.\u201d It\u2019s quite grim.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not comforting to persuade people that AI is going to improve the world while a song about the apocalypse plays in the background; nonetheless, this contradictory musical selection appears to have gone unnoticed by everyone at Meta, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeta has always believed in empowering people to share, connect, and shape their world as they wish,\u201d he stated alongside the video. \u201cAs we embrace this new wave with AI, we maintain that the future belongs to everyone. We\u2019re committed to equipping every individual with the tools to achieve their full potential and ensuring that the advantages of technology reach everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other hand, tech leaders are not particularly renowned for their literary critique capabilities. Meta\u2019s Oculus previously distributed copies of the science fiction work \u201cReady Player One\u201d to incoming staff, a narrative set in a dystopian realm where a tech enterprise focused on virtual reality products becomes extraordinarily powerful and malevolent. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has explicitly stated inspiration drawn from the film \u201cHer,\u201d which cautions about the potential dangers when we utilize AI for emotional dependency. Palantir, a corporation constructing AI surveillance frameworks for the government, is named after Palantir, a seeing stone from the \u201cLord of the Rings\u201d that the Dark Lord employs to observe his foes. Elon Musk is currently expressing frustration over the \u201caccuracies\u201d found in Christopher Nolan\u2019s blockbuster adaptation of \u201cThe Odyssey,\u201d a tale that contains wonderfully realistic elements like sea monsters, magic, and divine intervention. These individuals convincingly argue for the importance of studying the humanities.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Sci-Fi Author: In my book I invented the Torment Nexus as a cautionary tale<\/p>\n

Tech Company: At long last, we have created the Torment Nexus from classic sci-fi novel Don’t Create The Torment Nexus<\/p>\n

\u2014 Alex Blechman (@AlexBlechman) November 8, 2021<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Meta isn\u2019t alone in its recent marketing missteps. Instead of hastily pursuing AGI development, leading AI firms appear to be in a contest to produce the most unsettling advertisement. A few weeks ago, Anthropic debuted a chilling video of its own. As my colleague Lucas Ropek described:<\/p>\n

\n

The advertisement starts with footage of a burning house (not exactly a joyful beginning) before shifting to a series of still photos. These visuals feature a crowd of individuals being monitored by facial recognition, a homeless person resting on the pavement, endless rows of gravestones in a cemetery, and what looks like a group of workers laboring in a mine extracting (presumably) raw materials for smartphones.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a voiceover poses various questions such as \u201cCan AI be trusted?\u201d and \u201cWho\u2019s going to apply the brakes if necessary?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Anthropic is attempting to assure us that it is aware of the dangers AI presents to society, and thus it is the company that can be trusted to develop AI with responsibility. However, the actual impression it leaves aligns more with the tone of Bowie\u2019s \u201cFive Years.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reacted to the Anthropic advertisement, stating, \u201cI thought this was satire, kept looking for the handle to be spelled c1audeai or something.\u201d<\/p>\n

As these firms vie for control over the public perception of AI, their attempts don\u2019t appear to be yielding significant results. A recent Pew survey revealed that merely 16% of Americans expect AI\u2019s societal impact over the next two decades to be positive, while 40% believe it will have negative effects. Better luck next time, Meta.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn\u2019t affect our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3491259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3491258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techingeek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3491258"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techingeek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techingeek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techingeek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techingeek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3491258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/techingeek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3491258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techingeek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3491259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/techingeek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3491258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techingeek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3491258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techingeek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3491258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}