IRL ...In real life.

Author's Note:

One of my friends is very "Clever" in the British sense of the word. A comment he made started me thinking. That resulted in this email I wrote to them. IRL- our real life now, includes what we told the AI to make it. IRL.
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Aloha All,

So my friend Tim over in Portugal does not use AI, but he checks in on it every once in a while. Just like I do. I stopped once I realized that AI can now make videos from just prompts…and telling them from a real event has become almost impossible for a normal eye to catch.

Tim wrote me and suggested that the real danger was that now you can use AI to spread your propaganda to folks who want to believe the “reality” you are pandering too. And that shook me up. Because he is dead spot on.

I always thought that we would upload our minds into computers, or use devices to let us go into a Virtual World and live out our fantasies as some sort of Avatar. Tim saw past that. It isn’t us going into the Virtual world at all. Most of that research and development has slowed. It is the Virtual World seeping into Reality that is the real culprit. Want President Obama to say horrid things? Done. Want Taylor Swift to say horrid things? Done. Want to show a Hospital Ship that doesn't exist sail to Greenland? Done.

Right. Left. Center. Extremist. Pick one (or all) and AI will generate "Real Life" scenarios, comments, or actions...that never took place. The actual information is still out there...but why go there and find it when you are fed what you wanted to see?

Want to see a Buff Leader...fill in the prompt. Want to see a much prettier, or younger you, dancing with your partner...just a few prompts away. Want to show yourself having a blast in Martinique...laying on the beach with your dog...sipping on tiny umbrella loaded beverages. Get the prompt right...and you are there. Don't like your hair...weight, or skin tone? Tweak the prompt. And there you are, in all your glory. Just the way you imagined you looked. And it is all imagination.

Want to make a realistic video of any Celebrity, Politician, or Incident, saying or doing things that they never said... or did? Or incidents that never happened, or happened a long time ago...but taken out of context to appear like they happened yesterday?

I have had to explain to many folks at FoodLion and Costco that no, no Gorilla has ever fought a Tiger…let alone in an enclosed Zoo. And that Caitlin Clark did not say things about other Basketball Players being Jealous or Gay. The list is endless. There was no “Hospital Boat” sent to Greenland (We only have two of them, and both are undergoing maintenance.) The amount of misinformation out there is beyond the pale.

And now, we can create the world that a certain segment of the population wants to be true - in real time. Without them even leaving their homes. And without them even venturing into a Virtual World at all. They don’t have to go into a computer at all, the computer will just bring their version of the world to life.

I used to check in on ChatGPT…but never used it. Still don’t. But there are other versions out there….and some are way better than Chat GPT at some tasks. There are now Bands, Singers, and Songs, that have won serious Awards, or topped the Charts…and every single bit…is well a bit. LOL They don’t exist. Never have. Never will. But they have fans. Fans who love their music, stay in touch with them through Social Media and who buy their “Merch.”

There is a “virtual Actress” who has a SAG Card, and a Hollywood Agent! No more green screen, you just create a prompt, and it draws from everything ever put on the Web. So Tim saw it coming.

I had to shift my focus. If you can develop your prompts enough, you can create anything. And that includes stuff way above your own creativity. I can’t sing a lick, but I could - using prompts- build a Singer, with the voice I wished I had- and put him out there as …well, me! And most wouldn’t ever know.

I have no clue where this is going. But it is going. The only bright spot I see, is that humans still crave human input. Most of us will tolerate a Singer who can’t hit the high notes every time, or goes flat in the middle of a bar. It is why we prefer to go to Live Performances. But I just saw both Rick Beato and Fil from Pegasus, post videos that show auto tune and pitch corrected sound to be “normalized.” Folks are getting used to perfect pitch as the “norm.”

Now you just make a pretty girl, or handsome man, as an avatar…give it a backstory and a social media presence…and voila! Your next Grammy winner is here.

Wow. Making your own reality….who knew? Well…besides Tim.

I wonder how this will all turn out?