Former Vice President Kamala Harris has once again managed to turn a complex technological issue into something resembling a kindergarten lesson, this time with a rambling attempt to explain social media algorithms and artificial intelligence.
In a newly released interview with popular BigBoyTV host Kurt Alexander, Harris was asked how AI and social media, TikTok and Instagram and things might affect the upcoming midterm elections. According to RedState, the conversation, which dropped late Thursday night on YouTube, quickly devolved into the sort of meandering, grade-school-level rhetoric that has become a hallmark of Harriss public appearances on science and technology.
Alexander had already laid out the basic concept of how algorithms shape what users see online, but Harris felt compelled to elaborate as though she were addressing a room full of toddlers. Bear in mind, this is the same Kamala Harris who was previously tapped as the Biden administrations point person on artificial intelligence and was frequently described as the White Houses AI czar, a title that now seems more honorary than earned.
"There's a lot on social media that is targeted at specific populations, and within whatever population they will be that there's incredible amount of mis- and disinformation," she said, arguing that independent media is the way to go. "And you got to be able to know right from wrong." That is a direct quote from a former vice president of the United States, a person who ostensibly speaks English as her first language, yet somehow manages to make a basic warning about misinformation sound like a scolding from a distracted substitute teacher.
Her explanation of algorithms only grew more excruciating as she continued. "They're trying to dumb people down with the assumption that people don't have any interest beyond what they've already seen. Think about that," Harris said, seemingly unaware that her own halting, circular phrasing was doing more to dumb people down than any social media feed ever could.
She then launched into a bizarre floral analogy that sounded more like a failed improv exercise than a serious policy discussion. "But the algorithm suggesting I have no more interest because I'm looking at this yellow flower. I'm only interested in yellow flowers," Harris added. "As though my brain can't handle the fact that there may be a pink flower that I might be interested in looking at, right?" The question of what her brain can or cannot handle is, as many viewers might note, very much open for debate.
Still, Harris did offer what she apparently considered practical advice on how to deal with these supposedly oppressive algorithms. "Part of it is understanding how the algorithm is manipulating us and figuring out how we're going to psych it out a bit." Just psych it out as if the solution to Big Techs influence over public discourse is to treat it like a middle-school prank war rather than a serious constitutional and cultural concern.
Ironically, buried beneath the clumsy metaphors and condescending tone, Harris accidentally stumbled onto a point conservatives have been making for years. By describing how algorithms keep feeding users the same narrow content her yellow flowers she inadvertently outlined how social media platforms help trap left-wing voters inside ideological echo chambers, shielding them from dissenting views and reinforcing progressive orthodoxy.
This is hardly the first time Harris has struggled to articulate even the basics of artificial intelligence. In a widely mocked 2023 appearance, she attempted to define AI for the public and produced another instant classic. "I think the first part of this issue that should be articulated is AI is kind of a fancy thing," she said. "First of all, it's two letters. It means artificial intelligence, but ultimately what it is is, it's about machine learning." From AI is two letters to the socials blast me with yellow flower memes, it has taken her years to evolve her messaging, and this is the best she can manage.
Her history of awkward science talk extends beyond AI and algorithms. Many will recall the cringeworthy NASA video in which Harris tried to explain space to teenagers who were later revealed to be child actors, hired to pretend they were enthralled by her performance. You guys are gonna see, youre gonna literally see the craters on the moon with your own eyes! she gushed, pointing theatrically to her own eyes as if addressing a preschool circle time rather than aspiring young scientists.
To be fair, not every statement attributed to Harris on AI sounds like it was lifted from a childrens show. In a more polished written release, she allegedly warned, "The frontier of artificial intelligence is advancing at an alarming speed." She continued, "Over the weekend, industry leaders voiced support for an idea that the American people and many AI researchers in their own labs have been calling for: We must responsibly slow the pace of frontier AI development." When contrasted with her on-camera ramblings, the difference is stark enough that many observers doubt she had much, if anything, to do with drafting that language.
For conservatives who have long criticized the Biden-Harris administrations superficial grasp of technology policy, these latest clips only reinforce concerns about who is actually steering the ship on AI, social media regulation, and digital free speech. And for viewers who endured multiple videos of Harris discussing AI, algorithms, and outer space, there is one more unfortunate side effect: thanks to those very same algorithms she tried to psych out, they are now likely to be flooded with even more clips of the former vice president sounding like a tipsy wine mom lecturing the internet about things she plainly does not understand.
Login