Thanks to AI-generated media, Pope Francis became an unlikely fashion icon in a white Balenciaga puffer coat. A fake photo showing an explosion at the Pentagon caused widespread confusion and a brief stock sell-off in the US. And a track called “Heart on My Sleeve” gained millions of streams across platforms before it was removed due to copyright violation for featuring AI-simulated vocals by Drake and The Weeknd.
We are in an age shaped by artificial intelligence when images, sounds, and texts can be easily fabricated or altered. So how do we decide what counts as evidence, authenticity, or truth when even the most persuasive media may be synthetic? Is skepticism still a productive critical tool, or has doubt itself become something that can be manufactured and manipulated? Can we find a healthy balance between appreciating the potential benefits and creativity of AI content while objectively assessing its risk and impact? AI systems rely on massive amounts of people’s data and labor, as well as vast natural resources to produce its outputs. What are the consequences of this extractive model? Who has authority – and who profits – when these systems remain opaque?
Join us for a community conversation to examine the shifting relationship between media, artificial intelligence, and public trust at a moment when credibility feels increasingly unstable. Framed by the Higgins Institute’s symposium theme “I Don’t Believe You: Truth, Deception, and Doubt,” we will approach AI not merely as a technical innovation but as a cultural force that reshapes how belief and skepticism function in everyday life. Together we will explore AI’s roles across contemporary media ecosystems—social platforms, recommendation systems, automated agents, and deepfakes and generative art— and interrogate how these systems construct authority, obscure authorship, and invite both confidence and uncertainty.
This discussion will be facilitated by Professor Matt Malsky and the students of MCA 250 Deepfakes, Bots, and the Algorithmic Gaze. It is offered through the Digital Humanities Research Collaborative.
Admission is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided.
