When a generated photo or video becomes indistinguishiable from reality, does reality just collapse? How do we know what’s real anymore, and if society deems an image/video as false, how do we know it isn’t just a government cover-up?

Just a few words into a Gen-AI program and there will be a video on the news of you commiting a terrorist bombing of a pre-school, even tho you were never anywhere near there. They can send the secret police to murder people, then post a video of the people they’ve killed as “resisting arrest” or “trying to shoot the officers on scene”, even tho they were unarmed and cooperative.

Like… do governments just get to shape the world as they see fit?

  • phonics@lemmy.world
    12·
    6 days ago

    it has to be the definition though. human understanding is limited, therefore what we believe is fact, can theoretically be ‘wrong’ and disproven in the future by new advancements in science. so ‘truth’ is just belief in fact.

    • Steve@communick.newsEnglish
      1·
      6 days ago

      The common definition of Truth is along the lines of “That which matches reality”.

      It doesn’t matter what’s popular, or common knowledge. Sure humanity learns more about reality as time goes on. What people believe to be true changes. But that doesn’t mean what we believe is true. Something doesn’t become true because enough people believe it. Peoples beliefs simply get closer to the truth as more is learned about reality.

      • phonics@lemmy.world
        1·
        5 days ago

        whos to define reality? was it not truth that the sun orbited the earth? reality is also the most popular theory. string theory could be truth. president names in epstein files could be truth. if someone doctors the list before it hits the courts, and its voted on as true, it becomes truth to society while not matching reality.

        i think we are circling the same idea from different angles. kinda fun, thanks for the critical thinking sparring.

        • Steve@communick.newsEnglish
          1·
          5 days ago

          Nobody defines reality. We discover reality. Reality defines us.
          Reality doesn’t care about any idea, hypothesis, or theory.
          Reality is ignorant of courts, votes, or opinion.
          Reality is what is, and we make up stories that may or may not agree with reality. Makes no difference to reality.

          • phonics@lemmy.world
            1·
            5 days ago

            so truth then would also be absolute? and not a human perception?

            i feel like humans use truth more relatively. perhaps there should be distinctions between absolute truth and relative truth in the english language.

            some people ‘believe’ aliens to be true. believe in a truth. you shouldnt have to believe a truth if it has no counterpoint. like if gravity is truth. you shouldn’t be able to believe in it. it should just happen to you.

            • Steve@communick.newsEnglish
              1·
              5 days ago

              Some people ‘believe’ aliens to be true. believe in a truth.

              They believe in an idea. They believe that idea is true.

              In my experience, when people talk about some subjective Truth, they say things like “my truth” or “feels true”. They aren’t making a claim beyond their subjective perceptions. And while their perceptions are true, (meaning those perceptions happened to them), those perceptions aren’t necessarily an account of real external events. That’s how stage magic works. It looks like one thing, but what it looks like isn’t reality.

              And saying you shouldn’t be able to believe in something because it’s real, sounds very strange. Maybe you mean, you shouldn’t need to believe in something because it’s real?

              • phonics@lemmy.world
                1·
                4 days ago

                so as it turns out after doing further research, there are theories of truth. and we are both correct 😂

                Correspondence Theory: Something is true if it corresponds to reality. In applying this theory, we look for factual evidence to justify our beliefs.

                When you say “The Eiffel Tower is in Paris,” if the Eiffel Tower is indeed in Paris (which it is), your statement is true.

                Coherence Theory: The belief is logically consistence within a system of beliefs. Your belief is coherent with your other beliefs, making it true under this theory.

                Imagine you believe that “All humans need food to survive” and you also believe that “John is a human.” From these, you logically conclude that “John needs food to survive.”

                Pragmatic Theory: Truth is what works or is practical.

                If you believe that “studying hard leads to good grades” and you actually get good grades by studying hard, your belief proves true in a practical sense.

                Other Theories: Other theories, like the Constructivist or Consensus theories, offer unique ways of assessing truth. They remind us that truth can be seen differently depending on cultural, social, or individual lenses.

                https://www.gallanttheory.com/theory-of-knowledge/understanding-truth-theories-a-guide-to-evaluating-knowledge