# Synthetic Sociality: How Generative Models Privatize the Social Fabric

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.14090 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.14090/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 8 of its 98 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 13 May 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 8 of 8)

- [Which Economic Tasks are Performed with AI? Evidence from Millions of Claude Conversations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.04761/) (2025)
- [Art and the science of generative AI: A deeper dive](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.04141/) (2023)
- [Deepfakes on Demand: the rise of accessible non-consensual deepfake image generators](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.03859/) (2025)
- [How Spammers and Scammers Leverage AI-Generated Images on Facebook for Audience Growth](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.12838/) (2024)
- [The Dearth of the Author in AI-Supported Writing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.10289/) (2024)
- [Exploring the Use of Abusive Generative AI Models on Civitai](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.12876/) (2024)
- [Crafting Synthetic Realities: Examining Visual Realism and Misinformation Potential of Photorealistic AI-Generated Images](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.17484/) (2024)
- [Prevalence and Impacts of Image-Based Sexual Abuse Victimization: A Multinational Study](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.04988/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We put forth a critical theoretical framework for analyzing generative models both descriptively and normatively. Our thesis is that generative models automate the production not only of intellectual labor or intelligence, but of a broader set of human social capacities we name "social doing." We do this by historicizing the commodification of sociality in the digital economy, leading to the availability of social data as the precondition for generative models. We elaborate our definition of "social doing" by drawing a distinction between "use" and "exchange" sociality and further differentiate between the ways that generative models either substitute for or mediate existing social relations and processes. We then turn to existing empirical research on how people use generative model-based products and the effects that their use has upon them. In this, we introduce the concept of Synthetic Sociality, a social reality in part fabricated by Silicon Valley's privately owned and undemocratically governed generative models. Lastly, we offer a normative analysis based on our findings and framework, and discuss future design opportunities.