Losing our grip on reality

AI will proliferate further in 2023, powering fashion models and virtual influencers to news, podcasts, even virtual friends and partners. Pushback is expected, as concerns around trust, belief and the accuracy of information rise.

This trend originates from the report:

Marian Saltzman - Five Trends

Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year for 2022 is gaslighting, defined as “the act or practice of grossly misleading someone, especially for one’s own advantage.” The danger of deepfake technology is no longer a distant fear. It’s here.

Agencies are hiring AI models—raising valid questions about representation and profit sharing. Virtual influencers in South Korea are attracting followers—and raking in cash. Just as we’ve begrudgingly become accustomed to AI-generated news stories, along comes podcast.

ai, a series produced entirely by artificial intelligence. And then there’s Replika, an on-demand virtual friend or intimate partner. And this is all before the metaverse becomes a real thing.

The question we will face in 2023 and beyond is straightforward: What and whom can we believe? With new technologies, it’s no longer our eyes and ears. The rise in misinformation and disinformation is so severe that the United Nations has called on member states to enact policies that support digital literacy. DPDR (depersonalization/derealization disorder) is a mental health disorder that leaves people feeling distant or detached from themselves, mentally or physically, and/or having a reduced sense of reality.

A commonly prescribed treatment is talk therapy. That’s all well and good, but what happens when more providers switch to artificially intelligent chatbot therapists?.