Phetasy News - Evolve or Die
Phetasy News - Evolve or Die
Rob Henderson Discusses The Cost of Luxury Beliefs, Is Trust In Media Dead, Politically Homeless - Not The One Who Changed, Never See An Uggo Again & Phetasy Merch
Greetings from the Phetaverse!
This week on Factory Settings, Jeren and I talked about trust in the media (or the lack thereof) and whether or not it could be salvaged. We discussed how consuming information or media responsibly requires a fair amount of work—and who has time for that? By the end of the week, the conversation already felt dated with new advancements in AI dropping faster than we can humanly keep up. Who cares if we trust people if you can’t trust your eyes and ears? Who cares about mainstream media vs. independent media or true believers vs. liars if you have no idea if the image or video you’re viewing was doctored or AI generated?
With another election right around the corner, I fear we are not prepared for what’s coming in this brave new world. The ability to create images and video gets better and easier by the week. What if that video of that politician is a deep fake? Could you tell the difference between a real picture of a burger and an AI generated image of one? Leighton Woodhouse, an upcoming guest on Walk-Ins Welcome, said something today that stuck with me. He said that the worst part isn’t that we don’t trust fake things—or anything for that matter—it’s that we don’t believe when something is real. We end up living in a defeated purgatory of sorts, a surrender to the forces manipulating our reality all the time.
I’ve had many conversations with people who are pro-AI and even more who are AI-skeptics, but as an artist, I feel like I need to adapt—or die. There is no surrender. There is only facing reality, virtual and IRL, head on. My current obsessions are AI and survivalist videos. Weirdly, I think two are related. Will AI represent transcendence or hubris? Only time will tell. In the meantime I’m enjoying what’s real in this moment. My child’s laugh. Packing. The new Lana Del Ray album (it’s amazing).
Thumbnail artwork by Lara Cullen.
Email laracullenstudio@gmail.com to inquire or contact her.
Have you listened to Lana’s other albums? I am a big fan.
A.I. coming for the art & writing world saddens me, because there’s something so special about the human touch. Computer-generated art feels metallic almost; I taste the metal.