LINKEDIN — In what experts are calling "the most recursive piece of content since a mirror was placed in front of another mirror," a Senior Futurist has published a post imagining what Mark Twain would think about artificial intelligence, using an AI-generated image to illustrate the piece, on a platform that has become the world's largest repository of the exact "grammatically correct nonsense" the fictional Twain supposedly criticizes.

The futurist, whose official title is "Senior Futurist @ Futurist Speaker" — a designation that references itself like a job title having a stroke — published the piece to his followers Thursday, unaware that the irony had achieved critical mass approximately three words into the headline.

The post, which imagines a "fictional smoky riverboat chat with Mark Twain," features Twain "tearing through today's hype about robots solving all our problems." In the piece, the imaginary Twain warns that AI-generated creativity "may just be 'grammatically correct nonsense'" — a phrase that has described approximately 97% of LinkedIn content since 2019.

"The lack of self-awareness is genuinely impressive," said Dr. Helena Vance, a professor of Digital Irony Studies at Columbia University. "He's used an AI image generator to create a picture of a dead author criticizing AI, posted it on a platform optimized for engagement bait, and included a link to his personal website — presumably because one mention of 'futurist' in his bio wasn't enough."

The fictional Twain also reportedly criticizes "AI companions" as "loneliness for sale, not true connection" — posted, of course, to LinkedIn, a platform where connection is literally monetized, followers are counted like currency, and the algorithm rewards whatever approximation of human interaction generates the most clicks.

"He's selling loneliness about the selling of loneliness," Dr. Vance continued. "It's loneliness all the way down."

Perhaps most striking is the AI-generated image accompanying the post, which depicts two white-haired figures engaged in what LinkedIn's visual grammar recognizes as "wisdom being exchanged." The image, produced by the same technology the fictional Twain criticizes, features the uncanny valley aesthetics that have come to define AI-generated thought leadership content.

Industry analysts note that the post has received 5 reactions in 21 hours, suggesting that the market for imaginary conversations with deceased humorists may be smaller than previously projected.

"Five reactions," said social media analyst Jordan Torres. "That's a spouse, a business partner, a bot, someone who accidentally clicked while scrolling, and Mark Twain's ghost filing a cease-and-desist."

The real Mark Twain, who died in 1910, was famously skeptical of technological hype during his lifetime, once losing a fortune investing in a typesetting machine that never worked. He was, however, unavailable to comment on whether he would have invested in AI, having been dead for over a century.

"The beautiful thing about consulting dead authors is they can't sue you," said intellectual property attorney Rachel Morrison. "Twain's estate has been in the public domain since 1966. He's basically LinkedIn's favorite unpaid ghostwriter."

As of press time, the post had gained one additional reaction from Chester Swanson Sr., who follows Integris, and whose contribution to this moment was facilitated by LinkedIn's Promoted content algorithm — a detail that somehow makes the entire enterprise even more perfect.

The futurist could not be reached for comment, as he was reportedly working on a follow-up piece imagining what Benjamin Franklin would think about cryptocurrency, using an AI-generated image of Franklin holding a Bitcoin.