I have suspected that I have seen some of these for Palestine in recent months. Not saying this has any implication on the broader reporting of it but… shit we’re really kind of screwed if media starts portraying everything via fictitious dramatization imagery. Especially on social media.
> if media starts portraying everything via fictitious dramatization
let me do one nit picky correction
"does so in a a way even more efficient at manipulating our brains"
because a lot of media, especially social media, already do so. Just currently by using unrelated stock photos, photos from different "incididents" etc.
e.g. even on supposedly reputable news channels it's not rare to find the background images of completely unrelated incidents when they don't have any fitting "correct" images, and then maybe some small *note in some corner. Or not because didn't even notice.
Doesn't have to involve any AI. I had door-to-door campaigners the other month asking to donate to some charity (probably Red Cross) to help with hunger in Palestine. They haven't meant to shoot at IDF to stop the blockade of aid, just to buy more of it since it was in the news and they needed to top up their budget. That's just how they work.
If we're thinking of the same picture: That kid is real, it has a severe condition that needs medical attention. It's not the general case, but an extreme one, but that doesn't make the problems any less urgent.
A while ago I saw a photo of Nancy Pelosi on the Congress floor with a walker. I later learned the picture was deepfaked. But in a way it was more true than a real photograph.
Any news organization that does this deserves to burn, but I think it makes sense for aid organizations because they want to be able to portray the work they're doing / have done but might have some pause showing real people's faces while they're suffering. In a way a dramatization seems more "humane" and preserves the dignity of the individuals involved.
I've run photos I've taken through AI so I could post pictures of myself without opening myself to being doxxed.
