Infocalypse in the Age of Information…

Infocalypse in the Age of Information…

Emon NC.

In a YouTube video with almost 7.5 million views, former President of united states  and Nobel laureate  Barack Obama, stares into the camera and says  “We’re entering an era in which our enemies can make it look like anyone is saying anything in any point in time….Even if they would never say those things. So, for instance…they could have me say things like President Trump is a total and complete dipshit!” His eyes seem to glimmer with a hint of a smile. Obama continues, “Now, you see, I would never say these things, at least not in a public address.”

Obama,  obviously never said those things. The video was created by AI (Artificial  Intelligence),  powerful enough to make people do or say things they would never say or do.   The video was produced by  Hollywood director Jordan Peele and Buzzfeed, to serve as a warning against the new  information ecosystem, characterized by misinformation and disinformation. 

In the same video Obama furthered says “Moving forward we need to be more vigilant with what we trust on the Internet. It may sound basic, but how we move forward in the Age of Information is going to be the difference between whether we survive or if we become some ***** dystopia.”

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Those are strong words coming from the AI avatar of a former US president.The information world around us continues to grow and  evolve on an unprecedented scale. Technology which was earlier the domain of high end Hollywood studios, now can be accessed in a simple android phone.  This gives the power to create an alternate reality, the truth of which can never be ascertained. 

The Obama video is an example of  pure “Deep Fake” A deep fake is a type of “synthetic media,” (including images, audio and video) that is either manipulated or wholly generated by AI. And when such media is used to spread misinformation or disinformation, it not only weaken the societal fabric, but also pollutes the very essential meaning of truth.                                    

 U.S. technologist Aviv Ovadya in 2016,  coined the term “ Infocalypse” to warn about bad information overwhelming the society and put forward the question whether there was a critical threshold at which society will no longer be able to cope.

He noted that “Infocalypse” is not a static phenomenon ,rather it is ever evolving with implications for everything from geopolitics to our individual lives.  It is creating a dangerous and untrustworthy information ecosystem,  within which most humans now live. 

It is difficult to point the genesis of  Infocalypse or the extent of its hold  But it can certainly be linked to the exponential technological advances of the early part of this century. Before the turn of the millennium, our information environment evolved at a slower pace.

There were four centuries between the invention of the printing press and the development of photography. But in the last three decades the Internet, the smartphone and social media have transformed the world with blazing rapidity. By 2023, approximately two thirds of the world—5.3 billion people—will be plugged into internet. 

This change has made  information ecosystem vulnerable to exploitation. Bad actors—ranging from nation states to lone “influencers’ ‘ are spreading  “disinformation”—or information that is meant to mislead, for their own nefarious purposes. A case in point is the Russian attempt to discredit Germany or rather the European Union during the hight of the migrant crisis of 2015-16.  

When the public discourse turned against  migration  Russian operatives worked overtime to fuel  and instigate more tension. A story of a thirteen year old German girl name “Lisa”, allegedly gang-raped by refugees  was  reported on Russian national TV.  It quickly spread on social  media, went viral and eventually led to protests outside the German Chancellery in Berlin, with demonstrators accusing the government of a cover-up. In reality, the story of “Lisa” was pure fabrication

Such instances abound in today’s world. By the time we receive a photograph, video or a simple message, it has been shared and forwarded so many times that it is practically impossible to determine its source. And when the source is obscure, one can never judge the authenticity of the message. This makes it difficult to form a reasonable consensus on how to represent and perceive the world.  

Thus a situation is being created when people  are forced to “choose sides”. Even agreeing on a framework within which reasoned debate can take place had turned out to be a herculean task. As more and more people are becoming  politicized in the “ polluted information ecosystem, well-intentioned efforts are directed into winning arguments over problems that become ever more intractable (race, gender, abortion, Brexit, Trump, Covid-19)”, culminating in a doom-loop of partisanship.

It is about time that world becomes aware of this menace and work towards its mitigation. The first step in this regard is to understand the problem. It is not possible to fight something unless there is a general understanding as to what “it”is. There is a need to build a clear and consistent conceptual framework around terms like “disinformation,” “misinformation,” “conspiracy” and “fake news”.

Because the AI used to create synthetic media is still nascent, we have time to influence the development of this technology and its outputs. This is the critical to set standards on how synthetic media is created, labeled and identified. 

The  first line of defense is access to accurate information.  Support for credible journalism and fact-checking organizations is crucial. In the United States PolitiFact, won a Pulitzer Prize for fact-checking during the 2008 election. Snopes, AP Fact Check (from the Associated Press), Agence Presse France, Fact Check, FullFact and the BBC’s Reality Check are examples of agencies working in this direction. 

Technological tools can also help us protect from  mis- and disinformation. For instance a company named  NewsGuard, has developed a browser plug-in that tells a reader how reliable  the news is. Faculty, a British government AI software  helps detect ISIS propaganda videos.

“Eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty”, goes the saying. Public awareness and critical thinking is the most potent way to counter “Deep Fake”. As our relationship with technology continues to evolve,  it is important for each one of us to be vigilant. To be careful about what information we share, verify  sources. Correct ourselves when we get something wrong. Be wary of our own political biases. To be skeptical, but never cynical.

(Images collected from different sources)

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