Week 10 - Weaponisation of context

Glass facades: Auckland skyscraper. Photo: Danielle Hutchinson.

In a video for the New York Times, Wardle argues that AI and deepfakes are part of a 'much older phenomenon... the weaponisation of context or shallowfakes' (2019).

She argues that misrepresenting content can be just as easily achieved by sharing an old photo with an inaccurate caption, or changing the playback speed of a video.

My understanding is that viewing AI as inherently harmful could be seen as a 'moral panic' (Cohen, 2011), as AI doesn’t inevitably lead to fake news.

Whilst we should be evaluating how we engage with AI, it’s important to remember that advancements in technology also provide the tools to scrutinise sources, such as reverse image searching, which enables journalists to confirm if their sources are genuine.

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References

Cohen. (2011). Folk devils and moral panics. Routledge.

The New York Times. (2019, August 15). Deepfakes: Is This Video Even Real? | NYT Opinion [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OqFY_2JE1c