Latest / Mini Scroll / MINI SCROLL: Alix Earle's puzzle tease, Georgie Stevenson fuel Reel + Shy Girl pulled after AI accusations

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MINI SCROLL: Alix Earle's puzzle tease, Georgie Stevenson fuel Reel + Shy Girl pulled after AI accusations · Mini Scroll

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  This episode of Mini Scroll is brought to you by The Commons,
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  Australia's premium Co working space.
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  The Commons is truly a main character in the Centennial
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  Hi everyone, welcome to Mini Scroll, the daily Internet
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  culture podcast bringing you the biggest stories from social
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  media, the creator economy and the digital space every Monday
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  through Thursday and sometimes Fridays.
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  I'm your host, Lauren Meissner, the founder of the Australian
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  youth digital media brand Centennial World.
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  Welcome back to Media Scroll, everyone.
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  If you guys watch the pod, you may notice that the past couple
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  of weeks it's been so much brighter in our studio because
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  as you guys know, we got the infamous window when we moved
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  offices in November. And now that the seasons are
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  changing and it's going from summer to autumn here in Sydney,
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  the sun is moving obviously. And yeah, it's like pouring
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  straight to our studio every single afternoon.
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  It's so nice, but it makes for such an interesting, like, new
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  vibe for the video. Annabelle was like, it's so
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  bright. It looks so different.
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  So I hope that you're loving this like sun drenched studio
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  vibe for us here. All right, before I get into it,
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  Please remember to rate, review and subscribe.
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  All right, the first story that I have for you guys today is
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  Alex Earl's anticipated brand launch is making headlines with
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  its very unique teaser campaign. So Alex Earl is teasing her new
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  brand in a unique way that has all of the marketing girlies
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  talking. We don't know what the brand is
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  yet, but she's generating a lot of hype around the guessing game
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  of it all. So a few days ago, she launched
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  an Instagram account called What the Fuck is Alex doing?
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  It actually was private for several days and you had to
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  request to follow it. She has since made it public,
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  but making the separate account just automatically creates a
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  sense of exclusivity, of curiosity, as it kind of leans
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  into the strategy of mystery. And then on Saturday, a puzzle
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  piece billboard went up in New York City.
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  That red. We're about to bear it all.
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  A big secret is breaking out one puzzle piece at a time.
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  And the Billboard encourage people to follow at WTF is Alex
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  doing from Monday? Now the puzzle pieces are
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  starting to be slowly added to the Billboard to create this
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  final image of Alex that will presumably reveal her brand as
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  it all comes together. The pieces are being added
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  though at the same time as her influencer gifting is going out,
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  which I thought was so interesting.
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  And I was trying to figure out if like as the influencers were
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  unboxing their puzzle pieces. So basically the the PR gifting
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  is not the product they are sending like giant puzzle pieces
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  to influencers. So I was trying to figure out if
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  when the influencers unbox it and then share it on social
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  media, if that's the piece of the puzzle that's going up on
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  the New York City billboard. Wouldn't that be so cool if
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  that's what it was? I don't think so.
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  Like I don't think that's quite what's happening here, but I
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  think that would be really cool if that's what it was.
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  But I do imagine she will do like traditional PR send outs
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  and stuff with whatever product this is once it launches.
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  So this is made headlines partly because of course, anything that
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  Alex Earl launches is going to make headlines.
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  But I think second, it really taps into Tik Tok's sleuthing
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  culture, which is so relevant to Alex because she is literally a
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  Tik Toker, right? So it's like so native to her,
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  but it really taps into this specific type of culture that we
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  have on TikTok of sleuthing and fans trying to like put the
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  puzzle pieces together of different things that are
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  happening in the influencer and celebrity and pop culture world.
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  It's like a collective group project that her fans are
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  working on together. And I think that this is a
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  strong example of how Alex is so good at building community
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  rather than just building an audience.
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  An audience is really when your followers focus on you, whereas
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  a community is when your audience focuses on each other
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  and like rallies around each other.
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  And this is a marketing initiative that does that.
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  It encourages her fans to interact with each other and to
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  work on something all together. So they are creating their own
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  bonds, their own relationships, their own community.
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  Moments together around being fans of Alex are all now the
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  main theories as to what this is.
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  People think it could be skin care, bathing suits or self
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  Tanners. There are a few like screenshots
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  of trademarks floating around so it seems like it probably will
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  be in like the cosmetic kind of industry.
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  I know what. Alex Earl's new product line is
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  going to be is a skin care brand and I know this because they
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  found the trademarks started by looking at trademarks for her
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  name plus the word actives because you can tell by the
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  puzzle pieces on Instagram that the end definitely says Actives.
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  I found a brand called Real Actives that published for
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  trademark earlier this month. Real is spelled REALE like Earl
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  just mixed around. Trademarks were also filed by a
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  company called imaginary labs, but it's spelled with an AE and
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  those AES are capitalized like for Alex Earl more so I found
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  trademarks for the actual product names.
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  So the first one is green flag, which is going to be a non
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  medicated anti aging serum quick hit, which is a patch like a
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  pimple patch. Get bear just this that just
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  says cosmetic prep pop bottles not pimples for cosmetics poor
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  power which is also cosmetic prep and do.
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  More I do think the indication on the Billboard where it says
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  we're about to bear it all a big secret is breaking out because
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  as we know, Alex has been so, so open over the years about her
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  acne problems. So I feel like the words, you
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  know, we're about to bear it all like go bare faced and breaking
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  out a big secret is breaking out.
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  I feel like it's got to be some type of like acne cleanser.
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  Either way, I I can't remember the last time that an influencer
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  launched a brand or a product and had this much hype around it
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  before we even know what it is. I actually saw somebody say
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  recently that there will never be another Alex Earl.
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  Like there will never be another influencer who becomes a mega
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  celebrity just from being an influencer.
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  And I think I agree with that. All right, the next story that I
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  have for you guys today is Australian influencer Georgie
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  Stevenson is facing backlash after an Instagram reel that she
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  posted about the price of fuel. Aussie influencer and
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  entrepreneur Georgie Stevenson is under fire after she posted a
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  reel over the weekend that criticized people who are
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  complaining about the rising fuel prices.
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  Georgie is a Gold Coast based creator, supplement entrepreneur
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  and a manifestation coach. I actually used to love
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  Georgie's YouTube videos. I was obsessed with her.
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  I consumed all her content. I was on all of her newsletter
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  lists. Like I loved her.
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  I loved her vlogs. I used to pay to see her speak
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  on panels when she would come to Sydney.
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  Like I was bought into Georgie. I was a huge fan.
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  But as the years went on, I felt like her content kind of moved
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  away from like aspirational lifestyle 'cause that's why I
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  liked it. Like it was still relatable
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  enough, but it was like also kind of aspirational.
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  And she lived this very disciplined lifestyle style that
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  at the time when I was like into her, when I was like 2425, you
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  know, I was like starting to move away from being interested
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  in partying every single weekend.
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  I was getting into fitness. Like I was really trying to like
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  change who I was and change what I was interested in.
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  And I found her content was really inspiring for that.
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  But yes, like I said, as the years went on, her content kind
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  of moved away from that and more into like grifter esque
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  messaging, I would say around like manifestation and building
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  your dream life and things like that.
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  So I did unfollow her several years ago.
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  Anyways, in this reel, she basically contrasted quote UN
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  quote complainers with people like herself who quote UN quote
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  chose success and can afford luxury things like her Porsche.
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  So it was a video of her sipping a drink with text over screen
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  and the text read. Some people choose to complain
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  about the cost of fuel. Other people chose to build
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  their own success Co own three companies and buy a Porsche at
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  28 years old. I'm other people, OK, So I don't
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  actually think I need to explain why people are so mad about this
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  and to bring the fuel prices into this, OK, Like cost of
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  living, we have talked about cost of living for so many years
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  now. The fuel prices that like that
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  literally just happened and it's a huge problem in Sydney right
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  now. Fuel prices are almost $3 per
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  liter. I filled up on the weekend and
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  it was 296 per liter. OK, that is insane.
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  And that happened practically overnight and it's tied to some
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  horrific things that are happening in the Middle East.
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  OK, so that is a huge part of the discourse, right?
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  People are like, this is so out of touch.
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  However, there's also an element to this discourse where people
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  are using this as an example of how harmful manifestation
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  messaging can be, as so much of it does ignore structural or
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  economic like realities. When I was younger, I had like
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  no time for this type of content and I thought it was all just
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  like a huge sham. And as I get older, I'm becoming
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  more open minded. And I think as you go through
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  more things in life, you're open to trying like alternative
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  pathways and like listening to people who are like this, like
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  mindset shift changed my life, right?
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  So like every once in a while I can buy it and I can be a little
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  bit more woo woo than I was when I was younger for sure.
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  And I do recognize the importance in like working on
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  your limiting beliefs, having a positive outlook, working on
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  your mindset. Like I, I do understand that
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  scientifically there are so many benefits to that.
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  But in general, a lot of this messaging centers on how we
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  personally are to blame for our circumstances.
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  It's just like thinking more positively about money and
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  you'll be successful. And then it's like we're in a
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  cost of living crisis. There's a war going on.
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  There's so much shit that's completely out of our control.
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  And it's like you're basically saying to us, well, but it's
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  your fault your poor because you didn't think positively enough
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  about money. And I know that's super
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  reductive, but that is how it can come across.
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  And that's how this came across to a lot of people.
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  It really denies the reality of these macro problems that
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  individuals just cannot solve. We cannot solve the job market.
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  We cannot solve all the economy, the worse the interest rates,
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  the housing costs, like all of that kind of stuff.
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  And that's not us having victim mentality because I know that's
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  also kind of like a, a narrative, I suppose that is
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  perpetuated in these circles in this industry.
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  It really is just like the realities of life.
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  You can absolutely be positive and have a good mindset and work
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  on your inner self while also being able to acknowledge that
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  like, there are so many barriers for people structurally,
• 11:10
  economically, socio, economically, culturally,
• 11:13
  whatever, that prevent them from having three businesses at 28
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  and a Porsche. So now Georgie has responded to
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  the backlash. She wrote on Instagram Stories
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  over the weekend. A trial reel was posted that
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  didn't align with me in my beliefs.
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  Why did this go out? An external agency I hired to
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  help with content posted to trial reel that I had not
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  approved. I realize how serious this is
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  considering it's my account, my face, and ultimately my brand.
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  The messaging behind the post completely missed the mark and
• 11:40
  it was out of touch and incredibly insensitive.
• 11:42
  However, catching it was my job and I failed to do so.
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  I took action to remove it. I'm back from maternity leave
• 11:48
  and trying to adopt new systems and processes.
• 11:51
  It's clear that some of these need refinement and I take full
• 11:54
  responsibility for that. I build businesses and create
• 11:57
  content to support and uplift my community.
• 11:59
  So I feel so disappointed that this was posted on my page.
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  I would never want someone to feel hurt or less than.
• 12:05
  I'm so deeply sorry. I'm conscious this might seem
• 12:07
  like just another apology post from an influencer, but please
• 12:10
  know that this has been a wake up call and something like this
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  will never happen again. Feedback is great for growth and
• 12:14
  I'll continue to listen, respond, and learn along the
• 12:17
  way. I mean, we'll never know if this
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  is true or not. Of course, there's tons of
• 12:20
  people that are like, yeah, right, An external agency posted
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  this. I think that could be possible
• 12:25
  for sure. I know brands use paid agencies
• 12:27
  all the time. And I think it makes sense
• 12:29
  because she like, she is an influencer, but she actually, I
• 12:32
  would say, is like more of a brand owner at this point.
• 12:34
  So I do believe they probably work with paid agencies for
• 12:37
  their brands. And therefore it's possible that
• 12:39
  there's some crossover there as she's coming back for maternity
• 12:42
  leave. Like, I don't know, I'm just
• 12:43
  giving her the benefit of the doubt here.
• 12:45
  That's on that. All right.
• 12:46
  And the last word that I have for you guys today is book talk
• 12:49
  is popping off because it was just announced that Shy Girl, a
• 12:53
  horror novel by Mia Ballard, has been pulled by its publisher
• 12:56
  Hachette after widespread claims from Internet users that the
• 13:00
  book was written by AI. So the book was originally self
• 13:03
  published and later picked up by Hachette, which is one of the
• 13:06
  big 5 publishing houses in the world with plans for a bigger
• 13:09
  international release. But things started to unravel
• 13:12
  when readers online began questioning the writing style,
• 13:15
  saying it felt repetitive and similar to an LLM.
• 13:18
  And there was tons of discourse over the past few months on
• 13:21
  Goodreads, Reddit and YouTube. So on January 10th, a Reddit
• 13:25
  post by an alleged book editor of 12 years was posted on the R
• 13:30
  slash book subreddit with the title Shy Girl by Mia Ballard
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  and the use of AI. And in this post, the author
• 13:36
  talks about all of the telltale signs that something is written
• 13:39
  by AI and how like as a book editor, a huge part of their job
• 13:43
  now is to basically take like AI creative writing pitches and
• 13:46
  decide if they feel like this can be humanized enough to
• 13:49
  become an actual book. They right now, Shy Girl by Mia
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  Ballard. I have the prologue in front of
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  me. Let me throw some of it up here.
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  And you tell me if it pings the AI sensor parts of your brain.
• 13:59
  They include a few different sections, like the ache is low
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  and rhythmic, a second heartbeat in my ribs, steady and
• 14:06
  insistent, the kind of pain you get used to you until it becomes
• 14:09
  part of you. Then the door bursts open and he
• 14:12
  enters like a storm, dragging the sour stink of liquor behind
• 14:15
  him, his presence filling the room and turning the pastel air
• 14:18
  brittle. In his hands is a cake gleaming.
• 14:21
  It's pink frosting, too, smooth like plastic dipped in sugar,
• 14:24
  like something that belongs on a screen, too perfect to hold.
• 14:28
  Then on January 20th, Frankie Shelf published a three hour
• 14:31
  video essay about the book on YouTube that got over 1.2
• 14:35
  million views called I'm Pretty Sure This Book Is AI Slob and
• 14:39
  Mia allegedly commented on the video herself.
• 14:41
  I couldn't find this comment. It is linked on Reddit but I
• 14:44
  couldn't find it like on the YouTube video because apparently
• 14:46
  she commented on it before it like really blew up.
• 14:48
  So now this comment is buried. This is allegedly what she
• 14:51
  wrote. Hello Frankie, This is genuinely
• 14:53
  heartbreaking to write because I've been a fan of your channel
• 14:55
  for a long time, but I need to clarify a few things.
• 14:58
  I did not edit or format Shy Girl myself at the time I didn't
• 15:01
  have the money for a professional editor or
• 15:03
  formatter. Those services are expensive and
• 15:06
  I was working on a broken laptop doing the best I could with what
• 15:09
  I had. Someone in my writing group
• 15:10
  offered to help and assured me she'd do a thorough job, so I
• 15:13
  trusted her. In the process she also changed
• 15:16
  a lot of the wording and encouraged me to learn more.
• 15:18
  Poetic because that's my background and I listened.
• 15:21
  I should have done one final careful pass before publishing,
• 15:24
  and that's on me. But the formatting and editing
• 15:26
  being pointed out are not present in the traditionally
• 15:28
  published edition. Most importantly, I did not use
• 15:31
  AI to write this book. What I can say is that the
• 15:34
  version you're referencing was edited by someone else, and I
• 15:37
  only later realized she may have run parts of it through an AI
• 15:40
  tool during her editing process. When my first book, Sugar, was
• 15:43
  edited by someone else, I never received these AI allegations.
• 15:47
  The accusation started after I used the same person for my
• 15:50
  novella, which I've since pulled, and for early versions
• 15:53
  of Shy Girl. I'm not able to watch the rest
• 15:55
  of the video for my mental health, but I needed you to hear
• 15:58
  this directly. Being a black woman in the
• 16:00
  publishing space has been exhausting.
• 16:02
  I get attacked constantly when all I'm trying to do is write.
• 16:05
  And I have seen actually a lot of people speak about this
• 16:09
  situation in general and say unfortunately like whether it's
• 16:12
  AI or not. Like these accusations are tied
• 16:15
  to her now and it is so hard for marginalized people to get their
• 16:19
  books published for authors who are not essentially like CIS
• 16:23
  white people, largely men, but like people in general, CIS
• 16:27
  white people. And now unfortunately, this
• 16:28
  incident could be weaponized against people who are not like
• 16:32
  CIS white people in the future. OK so around the time of
• 16:35
  Frankie's video, Mia also did an interview with a publication.
• 16:39
  It was a written interview and people on Reddit were saying her
• 16:41
  answers. They are also sounded like AI.
• 16:43
  So here's an example of one of her answers she said.
• 16:46
  I've always believed that horror is one of the most honest genres
• 16:48
  because it doesn't look away. In Shy Girl Girl, Gia's
• 16:51
  transformation is a direct result of her submission.
• 16:54
  It's not just physical, it's psychological.
• 16:56
  Her body changing is the literalization of how abuse
• 16:59
  makes you feel. Inhumane offered animal.
• 17:02
  So as the speculation spread, Goodreads froze her review
• 17:05
  section and then Hachette conducted its own review.
• 17:08
  And this week they ultimately decided to cancel the books
• 17:10
  upcoming US release and pull existing copies from sale in the
• 17:14
  UK. Now Mia Ballard has continued to
• 17:17
  deny using AI to write the novel.
• 17:19
  She's also spoken about the toll that this backlash has taken,
• 17:22
  saying it's damaged her reputation and affected her
• 17:24
  mental health, she told the New York Times quote.
• 17:26
  This controversy has changed my life in many ways and my mental
• 17:29
  health is at an all time low and my name is ruined for something
• 17:32
  I didn't even personally do. There are people that are like
• 17:36
  the fact that she said didn't personally do because again, in
• 17:39
  that initial comment on YouTube, she is claiming that it seems
• 17:42
  like somebody else like possibly used AI who was like editing her
• 17:45
  book. I don't know.
• 17:46
  In general, this has sparked a lot of discourse, of course,
• 17:49
  around the publishing industry and AI and the safeguards that
• 17:53
  we need in place because yes, we need safeguards to protect AI
• 17:58
  books from getting published, but we also need them to protect
• 18:01
  authors who could be falsely accused of using AI.
• 18:06
  And then, you know, if that is the case with Mia, like her
• 18:09
  reputation is ruined. I also think it's really
• 18:11
  interesting because I don't know if Heshat would have pulled the
• 18:14
  book if it wasn't for what was happening online.
• 18:18
  Like if it wasn't for all the discourse, all the video essays,
• 18:20
  all the Reddit posts, it basically going viral, this
• 18:23
  conversation and these accusations and the speculation
• 18:27
  going viral, if they would have pulled the book or not.
• 18:29
  Like I assume probably not, but I'm interested to hear what you
• 18:31
  guys think. If you have followed this story,
• 18:33
  if you've read more of her book, if you're part of book talk,
• 18:35
  what do you guys think? Anyways, guys, that's it for
• 18:38
  mini scroll today. Thank you so much for listening.
• 18:40
  I love you guys. Please remember to rate, review
• 18:42
  and subscribe. Please Spotify star rate US and
• 18:46
  Annabelle will talk to you guys tomorrow and then I will talk to
• 18:48
  you on Thursday. Bye.
• 18:49
  Centennial World Podcast network operates on Gadigal land.
• 18:53
  We would like to acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation in
• 18:55
  the traditional custodians of this land and pay our respects
• 18:59
  to elders both past and present.