For years, internet users have seen what they want to in Donald Trump's youngest son. Now a freshman at NYU, he's being obsessively filmed—and making his first appearances alongside his father.
A coordinated effort called “National Only Citizens Vote” has been rolled out this week by a coalition of people pushing conspiracy theories about immigrants voting in the November election.
Given the flood of photorealistic AI-generated images washing over social media networks like X and Facebook these days, we're seemingly entering a new age of media skepticism: the era of what I'm calling "deep doubt." While questioning the authenticity of digital content stretches back decades—and analog media long before that—easy access to tools that generate convincing fake content has led to a new wave of liars using AI-generated scenes to deny real documentary evidence. Along the way, people's existing skepticism toward online content from strangers may be reaching new heights.
Deep doubt is skepticism of real media that stems from the existence of generative AI. This manifests as broad public skepticism toward the veracity of media artifacts, which in turn leads to a notable consequence: People can now more credibly claim that real events did not happen and suggest that documentary evidence was fabricated using AI tools.
The concept behind "deep doubt" isn't new, but its real-world impact is becoming increasingly apparent. Since the term "deepfake" first surfaced in 2017, we've seen a rapid evolution in AI-generated media capabilities. This has led to recent examples of deep doubt in action, such as conspiracy theorists claiming that President Joe Biden has been replaced by an AI-powered hologram and former President Donald Trump's baseless accusation in August that Vice President Kamala Harris used AI to fake crowd sizes at her rallies. And on Friday, Trump cried "AI" again at a photo of him with E. Jean Carroll, a writer who successfully sued him for sexual assault, that contradicts his claim of never having met her.
An election conspiracy group has announced plans to livestream footage from ballot drop boxes and recruit sheriffs to help. Local officials are concerned about potential voter intimidation.
After a historic presidential debate replete with discourse about eating pets, Taylor Swift ended the evening with a bang. Arguably the most powerful figure in American pop culture, the singer-songwriter chose debate night to announce on Instagram that she plans to vote for Kamala Harris in the presidential election. Swift’s endorsement is monumental. She holds […]
After Donald Trump’s incoherent performance at the presidential debate, in which he shouted about people eating household pets, his fans fixated on Kamala Harris’ earrings.
A WIRED analysis shows that right-wing stars like Tim Pool and Benny Johnson focused on topics like Elon Musk and supposed racism toward white people in hundreds of videos allegedly paid for by Russia.
New research reveals that most American voters, regardless of political affiliation, share similar values, but fail to recognize their common ground. This misperception exacerbates societal conflict and pessimism about the future. When shown evidence of their shared values, participants felt more hopeful and trusting towards the other side. The study calls for media and social scientists to highlight these commonalities to reduce perceived polarization.
A study reveals that Democrats and Republicans overestimate how much the opposing party approves of clearly immoral acts like theft or animal abuse. This "basic morality bias" is evident in social media posts and survey results, leading to increased political animosity.
Login
