I like to think I am able to tell the difference between what’s real and what’s make believe, in this case AI, but it turns out I am wrong, so very wrong.
This morning, I came across a video of police officers breaking up a scooter theft gang in London and dived in head first, sending it to family and friends without a second, perhaps first, thought. I have no excuses. I never thought for a second it wasn’t a genuine video of heroic coppers apprehending scumbag criminals. Then, family and friends began to reply. It wasn’t real: it was 100% AI and I fell for it.
Viewing again and of course with the benefit of guidance from more savvy and observant people, it is clearly, and very obviously, AI. My first reaction was mild embarrassment. How could I be so stupid? I have spent a fair amount of time pointing out the actions of others, apparently foolishly sharing AI videos and the like, and yet here I am being found out. But rather than hide from my mistake, I thought I would fess up.
Ai imagery is often very easy to spot. Some social media ‘friends’ are sharing AI images of themselves and even Stevie Wonder wouldn’t have trouble identifying them. My error was to see something and immediately make the assumption that it was genuine. I had blundered by falling for the old adage that if it’s on the internet, it must be true.
The internet is not solely responsible for providing false information. The human race has been fed lies since the beginning of time. The internet, as well as the rapid growth of AI, has merely normalised fakery.
Whether it’s cats doing impossible tricks or scooter gangs, we are all susceptible to being fooled, as I was, quite comprehensively as it turned out. I reckon I so wanted the so-called police operation to be true that I let my defences down.
I can’t say it won’t happen again, either. It has been suggested that as much as 40% of what we see on Facebook is AI generated. Some say even more. Platforms like X, Blue Sky and threads are often flooded by bots and fake accounts. It’s quite the effort to work out what and who is real these days. This isn’t going to go away.
This has not been a lesson learned for me: it’s a lesson I had already learned. But with my brain effectively on autopilot I got duped. Once it has been pointed out that something is AI, it seems obvious, but I need to be more careful, more guarded and, I regret to say, even more cynical.
We are probably in the stone age of AI and there is much, much more to come. I’m pretty sure I will get fooled again, as will pretty well everyone else.
