Seeing is no longer believing: why physical witnesses matter more in the age of AI‑generated content

“When Elon Musk unveiled Tesla’s latest Roadster, much of the attention focused on the obvious spectacle. Here, apparently, was one of the oldest promises of science fiction finally made real: a flying car.

“Yet what struck me most, as a researcher in performance and public communication, was not the car itself but the audience. The event was livestreamed, captured from multiple camera angles and quickly circulated online. People were also assembled to witness it physically. Most revealingly, Musk reportedly remarked that the live audience was there so nobody would think the footage had been made with AI. In a single sentence, he captured one of the defining cultural anxieties of the present moment: seeing is increasingly not enough when it comes to believing."

Read Oliver Bray’s post for The Conversation here