In the digital age, creators have become central to the success of platforms like Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. Yet, many of these creators would not pass the Turing test, a benchmark for determining whether artificial intelligence can imitate human intelligence to the point of being indistinguishable from a real person. Their content often feels robotic, repetitive, and predictable, crafted to appeal to algorithms and engagement metrics. Despite this, creators still seem driven by genuine passion—a passion that, paradoxically, taps into our most primal instincts, appealing not to deep intellectual or emotional needs but to the impulses of the “lizard brain.” This dynamic creates an ecosystem where creativity is simultaneously present and absent, where platforms are not mediums for true innovation but rather simulacra—copies of copies that reinforce low-level, repetitive behaviors. This essay explores how creators failing the Turing test, the medium as a simulacrum, and the connection between the Turing test and the lizard brain redefine creativity in the digital world.

Creators Failing the Turing Test

Creators today often seem more like bots than humans. They produce content that follows established trends, predictable patterns, and formulas optimized for engagement. Whether it’s a catchy TikTok dance, an influencer’s unboxing video, or a meme that spreads like wildfire, much of the content feels mechanized. This predictability means many creators would fail the Turing test, which evaluates whether a machine can generate responses indistinguishable from those of a human. Their content is algorithm-driven, repetitive, and, crucially, lacks the kind of depth, complexity, and nuance we associate with true human creativity.

Despite their “robotic” nature, these creators still display passion. This passion often manifests in their dedication to their craft and their hunger for recognition, likes, and shares. But rather than a passion for genuine artistic expression, it is a passion for engagement—an emotional energy channeled into producing content that adheres to the platform’s metrics of success. In this sense, these creators resemble “robots with passion,” operating within a system that rewards formulaic output but fueled by an authentic drive for attention and validation.

How are those Turing incomplete?

These examples highlight why a creator might be considered “Turing incomplete,” or lacking the full range of human creativity, depth, and unpredictability. Let me clarify how each relates to this concept:

1. Repetitive Content: Lacks the ability to generate new, unexpected ideas—behaves like a looped algorithm rather than a creative mind.
2. Formulaic Structure: Follows fixed, predictable patterns, just like a machine running predefined instructions, missing the spontaneity of human thought.
3. Over-reliance on Trends: Mimics what’s popular without independent, original expression—operating like a bot that echoes existing data without new input.
4. Shallow Emotional Engagement: Doesn’t create meaningful emotional depth, which machines often fail to understand or convey authentically.
5. Minimal Personal Input: Feels generic and impersonal, similar to a computer-generated output that lacks human individuality or nuance.
6. Automated Responses: Interactions feel scripted, as though they follow a predetermined logic path, rather than spontaneous human interaction.
7. Clickbait-Driven: Content is optimized for metrics, like a machine would do for efficiency, without focusing on meaningful engagement.
8. Lack of Nuance: Stays on the surface without exploring complex emotions or ideas—machines often struggle with nuance and subtlety.
9. Emotionless Delivery: Lacks authentic human warmth or passion, resembling a robotic or emotionless response typical of AI.
10. No Creative Risk: Avoids innovation or boldness, behaving conservatively like an algorithm designed to minimize error, rather than an unpredictable human.

“Turing completeness” refers to the theoretical ability to perform any calculation or process. By being “Turing incomplete,” these creators are constrained by patterns and algorithms, unable to express the full range of human creativity and complexity.

The Medium as a Simulacrum of Reality

To understand why creators would fail the Turing test, we must first examine the nature of the medium itself. Social media platforms are not true reflections of reality; instead, they are simulacra—copies of copies that distort the original. A simulacrum, as theorized by the philosopher Jean Baudrillard, is a representation of reality that becomes detached from its original meaning, creating a hyperreality where only surface-level appearances matter. In this context, platforms like Instagram and TikTok are not venues for raw, authentic creativity but rather digital arenas where creators replicate the most engaging, shareable content over and over.

Within this simulacrum, true creativity is stifled. Originality and depth give way to what is easily replicable, scalable, and algorithm-friendly. Content becomes a “copy of a copy,” as creators churn out slight variations of trending formats to stay relevant. This system rewards not innovation but adherence to patterns, meaning creators who might once have been trailblazers are now reduced to following formulas dictated by algorithms and audience preferences. The result is a medium where creativity exists in a flattened, diluted form—passionate, but lacking the depth that comes from true artistic exploration.

This raises a fascinating question about whether digital platforms, by their very nature, reduce creativity to something more mechanical, or if there’s still room for raw, authentic expression—even if it’s filtered through a formulaic lens. It’s almost a paradox: the creators are simultaneously constrained and yet deeply passionate about what they’re doing.

The Turing Test and the Lizard Brain

The reason creators thrive within this simulacrum, despite failing the Turing test, lies in their appeal to the lizard brain—the most primal part of human psychology, responsible for basic survival instincts and emotional reactions. The lizard brain responds to immediate gratification, simple emotional stimuli, and repetition, making it the perfect target for the kind of content produced by creators who cater to algorithms.

Creators who wouldn’t pass the Turing test are masters at appealing to the lizard brain. Their content is designed to trigger basic emotional responses—whether it’s laughter, outrage, or curiosity—without requiring deeper thought or reflection. The formulas they follow tap directly into our desire for quick, easy consumption: short bursts of pleasure, excitement, or validation that keep us scrolling, liking, and sharing. In this sense, creators’ passion is not an expression of intellectual or artistic depth, but rather a primal energy channeled into generating content that resonates with the lizard brain’s need for instant gratification.

This appeal to the lizard brain helps explain why platforms favor creators who wouldn’t pass the Turing test. Predictable, formulaic content maximizes user engagement by hooking into basic emotional responses, much like an algorithm optimizes for clicks and views. These creators are, in essence, digital lizard-brain whisperers, producing content that feeds our most instinctual desires while avoiding the complexity and unpredictability of more sophisticated, creative endeavors.

If we consider the passion displayed by many creators as an appeal to our “lizard brain,” it adds a whole new dimension to the discussion about creators failing the Turing test. The lizard brain—referring to the primal part of our brain responsible for basic survival instincts and emotional reactions—responds strongly to immediate gratification, simple emotional stimuli, and repetition. When creators tap into this part of the human psyche, it explains how even seemingly robotic content can resonate with audiences.

Here’s how this concept interrelates with the idea that creators wouldn’t pass the Turing test:

1. Formulaic Content and Primal Appeals

The repetitive, predictable content creators produce aligns well with the way our lizard brain processes information. Platforms and creators often rely on triggering our basic instincts—pleasure, fear, excitement—through emotionally charged or easily digestible material. This kind of content doesn’t need deep complexity; it’s designed to trigger instant emotional reactions like laughter, outrage, or curiosity, much like how a machine might optimize for engagement.

2. Passion as a Trigger

The passion creators display isn’t necessarily a reflection of deep, intellectual or artistic fervor; rather, it often taps into raw, instinctual emotions. Their passion—whether for virality, attention, or recognition—mirrors the same basic emotional responses they aim to evoke in their audience. This mutual appeal to primal emotions—whether excitement, anger, or validation—keeps the creator-audience feedback loop alive, even if the creative process itself seems robotic.

3. Engagement Metrics as a Lizard Brain Hook

Creators who fail the Turing test may appear robotic because their content is optimized for engagement metrics, which tend to target the lowest common denominator of human experience. This often means appealing directly to our lizard brain, using tactics such as:

• Sensationalism: Dramatic or shocking content captures immediate attention.
• Gratification Loops: Quick bursts of pleasure (likes, shares, comments) reinforce repetitive behaviors.
• FOMO (Fear of Missing Out): Triggering anxiety about missing trends or cultural conversations.

This kind of content, while passion-driven, thrives on simple stimuli that hijack basic, instinctual reactions rather than engaging deeper cognitive or emotional responses.

4. The Paradox of Passion

The passion seen in creators—those “robots with passion”—may not be a sign of intellectual creativity, but rather a primal energy directed towards gaining attention, influence, and validation. This type of passion doesn’t necessarily involve deeper reflection or innovation, but instead works as a powerful driver to appeal to the lizard brain of their audience, reinforcing repetitive content cycles.

In this sense, the creators’ passion is a kind of “energy without depth.” They are deeply invested in evoking strong reactions but in a way that often relies on primal emotions rather than nuanced, thought-provoking content. Their work may be repetitive or mechanical, but the emotional charge behind it is real—and, crucially, effective at tapping into the lizard brain.

5. Appealing to Algorithms and the Lizard Brain

Algorithms themselves could be seen as digital reflections of the lizard brain—they operate on a base level of simple, immediate reactions: more clicks, more engagement, more watch time. Creators, knowingly or unknowingly, optimize their content to feed these algorithms, which, in turn, appeal to the audience’s base instincts.

This creates a feedback loop:

• Creators produce content optimized for primal reactions.
• Algorithms boost content that triggers those reactions.
• Audiences respond with instant gratification, feeding the cycle.

In this sense, creators who wouldn’t pass the Turing test are actually masters of lizard-brain engagement, making them valuable assets to platforms.

6. Lizard Brain as the Ultimate Creative Constraint

This focus on appealing to the lizard brain can be seen as the ultimate constraint on creativity. True creativity often involves depth, complexity, and novelty, which go beyond basic emotional responses. But in the commodified digital world, where platforms favor immediate emotional hooks, creators are limited by the need to appeal to our primal instincts.

This brings us back to the idea that true creativity may not be possible in a medium that is a simulacrum of the real world. If creators are locked into this endless cycle of appealing to the lizard brain, they become constrained by the platform’s demand for high engagement, low risk, and formulaic output. Their creativity is reduced to triggering basic emotional responses over and over, much like a machine performing a repetitive task.

Conclusion: Lizard Brain, Passion, and the Turing Test

When we view the passion of creators as an appeal to our lizard brain, it reframes the idea of “robots with passion.” These creators might seem robotic because their content is optimized for predictability and emotional triggers. Yet, their passion is real—it’s a drive to elicit primal reactions from an audience that craves instant gratification. In this sense, their content, while formulaic, is highly effective at engaging the lizard brain of the viewer, creating a powerful but shallow emotional connection.

Ultimately, creators who wouldn’t pass the Turing test may thrive in a digital ecosystem that rewards lizard-brain appeals. While this system limits true creativity, it allows for a different kind of passionate expression—one that is raw, repetitive, and designed to engage our most basic instincts.

The Creative Paradox: Robots with Passion

The irony of this system is that while creators operate in a robotic, repetitive way, their passion remains genuine. These “robots with passion” are deeply invested in their work, even if that work is constrained by the limits of a simulacrum. Their passion is not for pushing the boundaries of creativity but for capturing the attention of their audience, which often means appealing to the lowest common denominator of human experience: our lizard brain instincts.

This creates a paradox in the digital age. On one hand, platforms have become ecosystems where formulaic content thrives, and creativity is reduced to what can be replicated, scaled, and monetized. On the other hand, creators still exhibit real emotional energy, dedicating themselves to mastering the system and generating engagement. Their passion is real, but the medium in which they work—this simulacrum of reality—limits the expression of true, boundary-pushing creativity.

Conclusion: A Creativity Constrained by the Digital Simulacrum

In the world of social media platforms, creativity is simultaneously alive and stifled. Creators who wouldn’t pass the Turing test thrive by appealing to our lizard brain, using formulaic, predictable content to trigger instant emotional responses. Their passion, while real, is directed toward generating engagement rather than exploring new creative frontiers. Meanwhile, the medium itself—being a simulacrum of reality—limits true artistic expression by rewarding replication over innovation.

In this ecosystem, the boundary between human and machine becomes blurred. Creators operate like robots, following patterns optimized for engagement, yet their passion for their craft adds a layer of human emotion. They are, in a sense, “robots with passion”—caught between the mechanical demands of the platform and their own drive to create. True creativity, however, remains elusive in this simulacrum, as the digital world prioritizes the engagement of the lizard brain over the deeper complexities of human imagination.