Facts and Fakes

knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu

Honesty has been troublesome for a long time but perhaps not as widespread as it is today. Not only due to mass media, the internet, cell phones, but also due to depravity (corruption, degeneracy, immorality. . .). Most of us probably are amazed how prevalent is the lack of facts and how prevailing fakes are. One commentator put it this way: Fakery is gushing in from everywhere and we are drowning in it. And then there is Deep Fake mashing up one body with someone else's face like videos of someone saying things they never said.

Ouch! Fake clicks, fake social media, fake statistics, fake news. You name it. Let's define it: not true, real, or genuine, counterfeit, false, phony, sham). Unfortunately, fake is all too often disguised to distort, damage and destroy. Alas, even facts (concepts, info, reality, truth) can be used to discredit, deceive and demolish. Another definition of fake could go like this: a worthless imitation passed off as genuine.

Becoming aware of something fake is getting more and more difficult because it is more widespread, often ingenious and less and less expensive. So don't underestimate it's threat in many instances. Even facts can be used as fakes.

Then there are what seem to be permissible like automated voices but can lead one astray as easily as being informative. Robotic voices can sound genuine but take heed. Alexa is pretty well known among others for answers to questions, giving directions and sounding like a human. Bot known as a web Robot has earned a definition like> an autonomous program on a network (especially the Internet) that can interact with computer systems or users, especially one designed to respond or behave like a player in an adventure game. Computers can't think so virtual (realistic, essential) assistantsdo the work which can be effective, either good or bad. One shot answers may not always get the job done accurately.

A.I. (artificial intelligence) has not been around forever and may run out of steam but perhaps not in our lifetime. AI gets around not only in huge industries but in smaller ones in need of short cuts, more powerful software as well as investing in humanity both in diversity and more and more look alikes. Facts better not be excluded or else. T or F?