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by CM30
2893 days ago
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Honestly, I have to wonder; is this just really returning back to the way things used to be? Think about it, we haven't had video or photo evidence for all that long relatively speaking, and it's only over time that our ability to 'prove' things became more absolute. First it was just speech and choosing who to believe, then writing came into the picture (along with paintings and drawn art), then over time voice/sound/radio recordings, photography, videos, etc. For most of human history, we haven't had great evidence, and in many ways were in the exact same situation we may end up in after these fake videos hit the mainstream. History is a long line of people attempting to 'prove' things, and fakers gradually getting better at lying in a near endless arms race. We survived with no evidence or entirely questionable evidence before, and we'll survive in that situation again in future. |
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Surviving isn't the issue, quality of life is. You made the point that "fakers [have] gradually [gotten] better at lying in a near endless arms race."
While I understand that things have a tendency to stay the same, history has also shown trends that have lasted thousands of years can also be punctuated in relatively short periods. Sure, people have lied and faked for thousands of years, but fake videos just might be the critical inflection point that in our timeline that creates a huge asymmetry of power and influence.
What sets this apart isn't the technical quality of the lie, it's the agents that are performing the lie: Machines.
Not only are machines capable of fabricating evidence, they are incredibly effective at measuring the efficacy. Lies can be cheaply produced, tailored for very specific micro-demographics, and directly sent to their intended recipients.
The early 20th century showed us how broadcast radio could be exploited for propaganda warfare. The early 21st century could show us how history rhymes when well financed organizations or nation states can finance disinformation campaigns that leverage machine learning.