Updating Hate

AI-made hate material is not an entirely new phenomenon, nor does it emerge in a vacuum. Hate entrepreneurs have been using digital tools and network technologies to amplify the production and circulation of hateful media for the last three decades. This chapter traces key historical moments in the technical and social evolution of the World Wide Web alongside a short history of hate online and on platforms. By coupling these historical overviews, we show that hate on the internet is not a glitch but a feature, a baked-in byproduct. In this sense, AI-generated hate content is a logical extension of the pre-existing kinds of misogynistic, racist, hyper-conservative, or otherwise controversial material already prevalent across the web.