The history of visual media has demonstrated that the truth does not lie in a plain image. A picture speaks louder than words; it can also tell lies. Artificial intelligence is increasingly illustrating disinformation.
As technology has made advancements, it has been harder than ever to distinguish between photos depicting the truth and photos intended to distribute disinformation. The seemingly most troubling factor of all is that these advancements are progressing at a rate that is too fast for society to comprehend.
While the rapid advancements of Artificial Intelligence has set off alarms for technology gurus, establishing standards for content creation and ownership has been the center of discussion. Society has begun to adopt Artificial Intelligence software as an outlet for their own imaginations. As the creations of their thoughts come to life, the massive spread of deepfakes in disinformation head towards an all-time high.
In our media’s history, arguably a point existed in which most news media outlets were trustworthy. Now, we continue to find ourselves questioning everything in front of us.
On April 8th , The New York Times released an article by Tiffany Hsu and Steven Lee Myers titled “Can We No Longer Believe Anything We See?” It discusses the recent events related to the increase in deepfakes on social media.
Online “trolls” had a field day with various viral AI images of Bill Murray as President Trump. Clearly, this deepfake had a comedic intention: Bill Murray is not the President of the United States.
Other creations also depicted Trump marching in a large crowd with American flags. Although this was a deepfake, it is a much more believable piece of work as we have seen ‘the real’ Donald Trump stroll along with US nationalists midst his campaign.
Technological experts have also disclosed new fears.
Wasim Khaled, the Chief Executive of Blackbird AI, a company that actively fights against disinformation, explains, “the tools are going to get better, they’re going to get cheaper, and there will come a day when nothing you see on the internet can be believed.” As an expert, who understands and knows the ins and outs of the software industry, Khaled openly illustrated that the enhanced versions of AI are detrimental to our society.
Overall, there is no denying that the advancements of Artificial Intelligence are fueling disinformation. In scrambling to understand the rising concerns ahead, it is important to note that now more than ever, doing background checks on information is crucial.
Instead of abusing the ability of Artificial Intelligence, I think it’s time to be strict with how we operate this machinery. It truly is a time where we should embrace critical towards whether you can believe anything you see in the media.
Artificial Intelligence continues to be a rising concern in the media because it contributes heavily to the miseducation of current events within our society.
