In this October 28, 2023 article for The New York Times, correspondents Tiffany Hsu and Stuart A. Thompson discuss the impact of the proliferation of AI-generated images following the beginning of the Israel-Hamas conflict. According to the article, “the mere possibility that AI content could be circulating is leading people to dismiss genuine images, video, and audio as inauthentic”. In some instances, old footage from previous conflicts is being recycled to erroneously portray the current situation in Gaza.

Several solutions have been proposed to combat deep fakes, including detection tools, and the tracing and identification of source and history of media files.

Editor’s Note: The Israel-Hamas conflict is not just happening on the ground – it is also happening in the minds and hearts of individuals around the world who are being “asked” to take sides in a war that will leave everyone at the losing end. The information war is well underway, and it is forcing us all to harness our innate capacity to detect lies and truths.

That the lies from the mainstream media have eroded our own trust in the old institutions, have made matters worse. Even members of the “Trusted News Initiative” cannot be trusted, how then will we know where to find correct information about issues that matter to us? [Read Trusted News Initiative or Corrupted News Initiative? Mission: Systematic censorship of the world’s top public health experts]. One can only expect that the use of AI for disinformation will only get worse as the world’s most powerful continue to vie for the support of individuals.

Here we are now seeing the importance of learning to research, and then triangulate information. Gone are the days when we could rely on one source. Now we must figure out the truth for ourselves because we can no longer rely on journalists to do the job for us [Remember how some news outlets are also amplifying disinformation? Read India slams WHO for erroneously reporting 4 million COVID deaths in country, Rappler Misleads Readers Regarding Scientific Consensus on COVID Policies, White House “frustrated” with “irresponsible” media coverage of Delta variant, The Deep Entanglement of Big Tech, Media, and Pfizer. Also, mainstream media is a tool for a strategy called information overload which is being employed by transactivists among many other groups, read Information Overload: Transgender Activists Are Using This Classic Strategy To Numb The Public To Their Radical Agenda].

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