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On the 15th of October our book “Real Fake – Playing with Reality in the Age of AI, Deepfakes and the Metaverse” has been released. It is our take on synthetic media, deepfakes, fake news, conspiracy theories, memes, internet culture, Generation Z and Alpha, crypto, narrative economics, virtual humans, CGI influencers, vTubers, NFTs, DAOs, VR, Web3, the Creator Economy and the Metaverse. Real Fake is about how humans continuously manipulate reality and how new digital technology tools enable us to go one step further in this ancient game.
4.2 Gigabytes, or: How to Draw Anything
“4.2 gigabytes. That’s the size of the model that has made this recent explosion possible. 4.2 gigabytes of floating points that somehow encode so much of what we know. […] How many images, both real photos and fictional art, were crammed through the auto-encoder, that narrower and narrower funnel of information, until some sort of meaning was distilled from them? How many times must a model be taught ]to de-noise an image until it understands what makes a tiger different from a leopard? I guess now we know.”
An AI-Generated Artwork Won First Place
“A man, named Jason Allen, came in first at the Colorado State Fair’s fine art competition using an AI generated artwork on Monday. […] The image, which Allen printed on canvas for submission, is gorgeous. It depicts a strange scene that looks like it could be from a space opera, and it looks like a masterfully done painting. Classical figures in a Baroque hall stair through a circular viewport into a sun-drenched and radiant landscape. But Allen did not paint “Théâtre D’opéra Spatial,” AI software called Midjourney did. It used his prompts, but Allen did not wield a digital brush. This distinction has caused controversy on Twitter where working artists and enthusiasts accused Allen of hastening the death of creative jobs.”
Where Do Memes Come From?
“The striking amount of change in our meme origin data over the years indicates social media platforms are anything but stable. There is no reason to think the way today’s digital media ecosystem operates is what it will look like in the near future. Radical change is not just possible, but probable.”
The News Habits and Attitudes of the Gen Z and Millennial Generations
- Millennials and Gen Z use traditional news outlets, not just social platforms, and pay for news
- These generations have both traditional and novel expectations from the news media, but at the same time, enjoyment of the news is falling
- Millennials and Gen Z are feeling digital fatigue and have adopted different tactics to combat it
- Trust in the press is low, but so is trust in social media, and local news fares better than national
- Many believe the media fails to accurately cover communities of color and immigrants in America
Visit the report here.
24 Gen Z Statistics That Matter to Marketers in 2022
- 60% think digital first impressions are more important than in person ones
- 40% of Gen Z use TikTok for search instead of Google
You can find all the statistics here.
Simon, Terry, and Howie Sing “Nessun Dorma” on Stage
Contact
Real Fake is a weekly newsletter in which SogetiLabs’ Research Institute VINT examines the future where synthetic reality becomes part or our objective reality. We investigate the impact of new technology on people, organisations and our society. If you have any questions or comments, do not hesitate to contact us. You can reach us at vint@sogeti.com.
