How the interaction of AI search, social media and generative AI will entrench existing status hierarchies

As AI-generated content proliferates, leading to a degradation of online information reliability, AI search algorithms and conversational agents will increasingly rely on high-prestige sources to mitigate the risk of amplifying misinformation. Retrieval augmented generation (RAG) positions the existing web as a ground truth which can ensure the reliability of responses, while the mainstreaming of generative AI is simultaneously eroding that reliability at an accelerating rate. The result is that the relative value of existing high prestige sources will increase on social media and in search, standing out from a growing swamp of GAI-infused or GAI-created detritus.