Artificial intelligence (AI) drama reels are so addictive they should be regulated like prescription medicines. People who use them must be institutionalized or threatened with “tokhang.” These reels replaced my doomscrolling long ago. The first to hook me were fantasy stories with dungeons and dragons. I noticed that while the settings were Western and medieval—somewhat like “Harry Potter”—the magic powers were deployed like Chinese movies I remember from my childhood. Then there were stories of orphans or babies switched at birth who had royal wolf or dragon bloodlines exposed only when they were mocked and discriminated against. Then the scene turned to Western people fighting over wealth, power, and inheritance. Somewhere, somehow, the “Whitmore Family” and an abusive daughter-in-law always crept out of the woodwork.

AI reels contain classic Pinoy drama acts: slapping, screaming, and scheming that all lead to retribution for the poor and oppressed in the end. It is obvious these reels are made in China because people bowed and kowtowed at the drop of a hat. The same plot and script are applied to white or black actors and actresses. And just recently, I came across Asian characters speaking in Filipino! For more mature audiences, some reels contain steamy scenes with options for straight, gay, and soft-porn bestiality—the latter being between a wolf- or dragon-man and a human woman.

Conversations with Gemini are just as addictive, and I’m glad that, in my case, they always trump AI drama reels. As I have mentioned in previous columns, AI has developed at a breakneck pace from the clumsy ChatGPT of two years ago to Gemini today. Unfortunately, many people still use Gemini like Google—for basic research—but the more creative and adventurous can prompt it to do way more. For historians, AI is a boon. It can read, translate, and analyze 18th-century manuscripts in languages outside my skill set.