The advent of the metaverse, artificial intelligence and deepfake technologies are likely to greatly accelerate the opportunities for people with the propensity to believe misinformation and conspiracy theories to be indoctrinated into whatever cult or sinister movement is looking for naïve recruits. Moreover, the likelihood that information provided by experts and leaders virtually will be disbelieved is almost assured.
A Risky World I: Artificial Intelligence and Deepfake Technology
We are reaching a point where any information we read online needs to be questioned. Moreover, this is truly a “Liar’s Dividend” situation in which Machiavellian individuals can easily deny or undermine any information that contradicts their positions or viewpoints – in other words “everything I disagree with is fake news”.
…an allegation of a deepfake or fake news can provide rhetorical cover. To avoid cognitive dissonance, core supporters or strong co-partisans may be looking for an “out” or a motivated reason (Taber and Lodge 2006) to maintain support for their preferred politician in the face of a damaging news story.
In essence, the technologies described below can be used to undermine factual information and support lies and misinformation at every level – essentially, all of us will have to question everything we read, view or hear. Our need to develop critical thinking (see chapter on this topic) is essential.
As these emerging technologies are new and evolving, they require some upfront description. However, these authors are psychologists and not technologists – so, the next section is largely referenced information (in italics) about some of these technologies and how they are likely to operate and impact us – our commentary and insight follows. To be clear, this is not some entirely futuristic fantasy: These technologies – while in their infancies – are operating today and rapidly growing in sophistication.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence is an expansive branch of computer science that focuses on building smart machines. Thanks to AI, these machines can learn from experience, adjust to new inputs, and perform human-like tasks. For example, chess-playing computers and self-driving cars rely heavily on natural language processing and deep learning to function. [8 Examples of Artificial Intelligence in our Everyday Lives (edgy.app)
There are four types of artificial intelligence: reactive machines, limited memory, theory of mind and self-awareness. [ Understanding the Four Types of Artificial Intelligence (govtech.com)]
1. Reactive machines: The most basic types of AI systems are purely reactive and have the ability neither to form memories nor to use past experiences to inform current decisions. Deep Blue, IBM’s chess-playing supercomputer, which beat international grandmaster Garry Kasparov in the late 1990s, is the perfect example of Type I machine. Deep Blue can identify the pieces on a chess board and know how each piece moves. It can make predictions about what moves might be next for it and its opponent. And it can choose the most optimal moves from among the possibilities. But it doesn’t have any concept of the past, nor any memory of what has happened before. Apart from a rarely used chess-specific rule against repeating the same move three times, Deep Blue ignores everything before the present moment. All it does is look at the pieces on the chess board as it stands right now, and choose from possible next moves.
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