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The idea of truth based on recorded media is a boat that sailed away long long ago. People are very used to being deceived by advertising in general and politi

by r0s 3y ago

The idea of truth based on recorded media is a boat that sailed away long long ago. People are very used to being deceived by advertising in general and political media especially. The article mentions certain politicians dismissing any media critical of them as AI deepfakes, a claim the article then instantly fact-checks (without irony). Denial and lies are not new in any sense. Fake media is not new, and analog fakes have a very long history. Photoshop didn't destabilize anyone's concept of truth beyond the extremely gullible. It's hard for me to imagine AI having significant, let alone measurable impact here.

notaustinpowers 3y ago
I believe the concern is that, now, it's incredibly easy to make a very believable lie. It takes skill to Photoshop an image believably, or it takes social weight to push a false story as believable. But now, AI has democratized these actions. A 15yo with an internet connection can make the fake Biden voice calls in about 10 minutes.
- r0s 3y ago
  Seems like that will simply lead to a huge glut of noise, more quickly and thoroughly desensitizing current and subsequent generations to fakes. The reason I mention Photoshop is because it is many orders of magnitude more automated than photo editing using previous tools. The social perception of truth wasn't effected despite this new efficiency, because a faster to make lie isn't significantly different from the absolute deluge of lies people deal with every day.
marcellus23 3y ago
> The idea of truth based on recorded media is a boat that sailed away long long ago. And if it was ever here, it was only here for the blink of an eye, relatively speaking. Almost all of human history took place before recorded media was invented.
- dmarchand90 3y ago
  You can read old George Orwell essays about his experience with the media in the Spanish Civil War that sound like they could have been written yesterday. He talks about how he felt the media was entering some sort of post truth era even then from the blatant lies and total split in reality the newspapers would have amongst themselves
steego 3y ago
If you’re struggling to imagine AI having a significant and measurable impact, then I think you’re failing account how many people, who are not extremely gullible, are influenced simply by repetitive narratives and group think. AI will simply accelerate the creation of already effective targeted propaganda.
- ninjaK4t 3y ago
  > I think you’re failing account how many people, who are not extremely gullible, are influenced simply by repetitive narratives and group think. Like all those people who work for money, to buy things; repeat, repeat. Take away human language and its hallucinated meaning and we’re just meat based cassette tapes repeating yesterdays application of agency; output complete sentences, feel validated by the dopamine buzz for engaging in anything, eat, shit, go to bed. A whole lot of daily life is just repeating yourself. Office jobs are “capitulate to group think”. Society requires a whole lot of capitulate to group think; everyone needs a tribe and finds one in the end. Only people working directly on infrastructure, health, and tech breakthroughs are moving the needle and even then in small repetitive steps. If you think you’re above that altogether then you’re the one chanting propaganda. Given the complexity of the universe, no center, you have no idea if you’re moving anything forward or backward; you can’t even point in the direction “forward”. Make more 1900s technology and software? Repeat. yawn Time to repeat sleep. Good night.

by r0s 3y ago

notaustinpowers 3y ago

I believe the concern is that, now, it's incredibly easy to make a very believable lie. It takes skill to Photoshop an image believably, or it takes social weight to push a false story as believable. But now, AI has democratized these actions. A 15yo with an internet connection can make the fake Biden voice calls in about 10 minutes.

r0s 3y ago
Seems like that will simply lead to a huge glut of noise, more quickly and thoroughly desensitizing current and subsequent generations to fakes. The reason I mention Photoshop is because it is many orders of magnitude more automated than photo editing using previous tools. The social perception of truth wasn't effected despite this new efficiency, because a faster to make lie isn't significantly different from the absolute deluge of lies people deal with every day.

marcellus23 3y ago

> The idea of truth based on recorded media is a boat that sailed away long long ago. And if it was ever here, it was only here for the blink of an eye, relatively speaking. Almost all of human history took place before recorded media was invented.

dmarchand90 3y ago
You can read old George Orwell essays about his experience with the media in the Spanish Civil War that sound like they could have been written yesterday. He talks about how he felt the media was entering some sort of post truth era even then from the blatant lies and total split in reality the newspapers would have amongst themselves

steego 3y ago

If you’re struggling to imagine AI having a significant and measurable impact, then I think you’re failing account how many people, who are not extremely gullible, are influenced simply by repetitive narratives and group think. AI will simply accelerate the creation of already effective targeted propaganda.

ninjaK4t 3y ago
> I think you’re failing account how many people, who are not extremely gullible, are influenced simply by repetitive narratives and group think. Like all those people who work for money, to buy things; repeat, repeat. Take away human language and its hallucinated meaning and we’re just meat based cassette tapes repeating yesterdays application of agency; output complete sentences, feel validated by the dopamine buzz for engaging in anything, eat, shit, go to bed. A whole lot of daily life is just repeating yourself. Office jobs are “capitulate to group think”. Society requires a whole lot of capitulate to group think; everyone needs a tribe and finds one in the end. Only people working directly on infrastructure, health, and tech breakthroughs are moving the needle and even then in small repetitive steps. If you think you’re above that altogether then you’re the one chanting propaganda. Given the complexity of the universe, no center, you have no idea if you’re moving anything forward or backward; you can’t even point in the direction “forward”. Make more 1900s technology and software? Repeat. yawn Time to repeat sleep. Good night.