- It’s not an aberration to state that the modern world is completely dominated by information-technology-driven applications and solutions that are assuming the role of omniscient and omnipresent. Most of the global community will not complain about the intrusion of these modern-day wonderful tech tools in our daily lives though. The amount of ease and comfort these modern tools bring along is amazing even as the safeguards to ensure the cutting-edge technology doesn’t maliciously slice through humanity are always at the back of all concerned. Make no mistake, the newer tools on the horizon like the Internet of Things, machine learning, data analytics, and the most obvious of the present lot, artificial intelligence have been a boon for us.
PC: bl-sw
- These cutting-edge tech tools have also introduced certain aspects of indisputable concerns like deepfakes, manipulation, unsolicited intervention in matters of importance like elections/opinion building/besmirching & hailing reputations, and many more criticalities encountered by modern governments. Did someone say that modern tech tools are double-edged swords that could be beneficial as well as harmful? Indeed, it is like everything else. As you are aware everyone on Instagram manipulates their images. The tools available facilitate this. However, it assumes a different dimension when those in positions of public trust do so willingly. This is an era of the Instagram face, you see. Teens to greybeards, who isn’t using filters on social media?
- So much so, that real-life encounters with yesteryear buddies are often shocking. Because their virtual avatars have aged very flatteringly. Yet, one would have noticed how Kate Middleton recently put out a manipulated family photo. This cannot be excused as simply being on-trend. Major news agencies withdrew the photo, finding it in breach of their guidelines. Remember, the UK’s royal family lives off UK taxpayers. In exchange, it must deliver an overall fairytale-ness. A lot of this is playacting, and the British public seems to accept it. But there are limits. Kate has just hit a big one. There is also extra sensitivity on this right now, as the country is due for elections within a year. When people in powerful positions push doctored photos, that’s a completely different ball game from your neighbor erasing his/her acne from a profile pic.
PC: Quora
- The toughest standards must be followed. Any departure can erode public trust. For example, if your legislator is very sick, but his current publicity photos show him healthy. Such deception also has very scary antecedents. Yes, dictators managed to pull it off even before Photoshop was created. Stalin, Mao, and Mussolini are known to have purged photos before. Surely no modern person in power, whether English royals or politicians everywhere, wants to be seen in this kind of company. Proving an image is fake can be hard. But proving that it can be harder. Public figures who play fast and loose with authenticity risk losing credibility. And when someone else doctors their photo, for malicious reasons, they could meet the same fate as the boy who cried wolf.
