When everything is generated, what is real?

You’re scrolling... Content and more content flashes before your eyes. You see an influencer recommending some product. Well, that looks pretty good. Who is he/she? You go to their profile page. AI… Oh, well. That’s not very unusual. Moving on. You see more and more content. How to make this image with just this simple prompt? Create a whole video with just this simple prompt? Create a new life with just this simple prompt.

What is real? What is worth watching? Should you even be watching this? Is it wrong to even like this? What is content? So many questions run through your head.

The Philosophy Behind The Matrix

Before going further, I’d like to take you on a slightly philosophical journey. We’ve all either seen or heard of The Matrix, or at least, know the concept of The Matrix. The idea that we all live in a simulation. So, the person who was behind this idea, Jean Baudrillard wrote this book called Simulacra and Simulations. In this book, he mentions three important concepts; simulation, simulacra and hyperreality.

The idea of hyperreality was that everything we think we know to be real, is not actually real. Everything we see while scrolling is fake but we’re made to think it is real. This was applicable long before AI. Baudrillard predicted that we would live in a world where the line between reality and simulation no longer exists.

It used to be and still is the case, that we create a fake reality in order to sell our content and create unreal expectations. There is this invisible, unattainable standard that we are forced to aspire to, though we can’t actually reach it and no one really can. The beauty advertisements, the Instagram fitness regimes, etc..

AI Isn’t a Looming Threat Anymore

Now that we understand the context better, it is important that we realize that AI generation has always been a looming threat but the questioning of “what is real?” has always been there.

Generative AI has threatened to take many jobs; with the IT industry laying off more and more workers because AI seems to be able to replace them. Writers strikes in Hollywood has held off the use of AI in writing for now but some filmmakers still use AI for editing or even image generation which is generally met with controversy.

The field of politics is already messy enough without having a tool like AI to create more propaganda and fake news. Deepfakes and voice imitations can easily mislead a lot of people even though we live in a world with AI.

From Entertainment to Misinformation: The Slippery Slope

The creation of virtual chatbots is a dangerous step into every sci-fi dystopia that predicts the end of humanity. For now, it remains primarily recreational, with most people using it to create a semi-accurate version of their favourite fictional character or celebrity.

AI generated videos used as brainrot on TikTok or Instagram seem harmless enough but generative videos don’t end there. There are alarmingly accurate AI generated videos being developed and there is definitely a near future where generating AI videos without the small mistakes of extra fingers or blending of objects does not occur.

This can lead to so many issues with the legal system as it already has to use a lot of verification for the admission of any digital evidences. Anything can be tampered with and altered and there are scenarios where no one would ever know.

Simulated Selves and the Ethical Use of AI

Celebrities voices can be mimicked to the point that no one can tell the difference and this being used to create funny content on social media seems harmless but the harmful implications remain. When AI begins to not only mimic our voices, our personalities, our faces, then are we even real?

At times, it feels like we are in a simulation or a Black Mirror episode. It is important to remember that AI is a tool, a tool that has to be used diligently. It is up to us to decide how we want to use it and remember the ethical consequences every time we use AI.

In fact, this whole article could be AI...(just kidding... or not)

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