Deepfakes: Blurring the Lines Between Reality and Fabrication
From early photo manipulations of Abraham Lincoln to today's AI-generated "deepfakes," the technology of image forgery has dramatically evolved. AI tools democratize counterfeiting, making the creation of convincing fake images effortless. These AI-generated fakes lack real-world referents, making them incredibly difficult to trace and leading to concerns about the spread of lies and propaganda on social media. Deepfakes have been weaponized in politics, used to spread misinformation during elections and sow discord. Experts fear that as people become accustomed to deepfakes, we'll begin to doubt the veracity of all information, potentially leading to a collapse of trust and the erosion of democracy. The article argues that in an age of information overload, people rely on myths and intuition rather than reason, making deepfakes easier to accept and spread.
Read more