CiaraPeople keep sharing an image of a bird with a drop of water bursting on its head like a crown. It's AI, but people share it in good faith, believing it’s an amazing photo by a human of a real bird in a real moment of time. Meanwhile, humans who have taken amazing photos of real birds captured in real moments of time, like a hummingbird in ballet with a butterfly, get questioned in good faith by people who are tired of being cheated by AI-deceit. The way AI has broken social trust is distressing.
ratiogeraet@CiaraNi It takes the joy out of watching interesting pictures and cute dog videos for me. Just one more reason why AI sucks.
Eggs now in different baskets.@ratiogeraet @CiaraNi It is not just that.
Making people distrust their reality is part of the fascist playbook currently in use by many of the worlds despotic regimes.
There is an article (in German) on Republik at the moment that deals with this very issue.
The alt-right benefit from this method much more than left wing groups.
The article is subscribers only but the author has co-written a book on the same subject
Link to the article:
https://www.republik.ch/2026/04/08/wenn-faelschungen-politik-machen
The Meme as the Message: Digital Culture Between Algorithm, Affect, and Aesthetics
This book sheds light on the phenomenon of memes, covering everything from pandemic humour to far-right propaganda, from feminist memes to algorithmic censorship. Memes are far more than light entertainment - they are complex cultural artefacts that play a role in politics, in art, and in platform economics. Taking a cultural studies perspective, the authors analyse individual memes in entertaining case studies, systematising their findings in order to redefine this digital form of communication
@the_wub @ratiogeraet Yes, it's a known strategy
Petra van Cronenburg@the_wub Oh yes, and facts about nature/climate are one their (techbro fascists) big targets.