AI-generated images are making it impossible to distinguish truth from fiction. We need laws and AI watermarks to protect our shared reality.
AI-generated images are increasingly blurring the line between reality and fiction, posing significant challenges to public trust. The article argues for the implementation of laws and AI watermarks to help distinguish real images from synthetic ones. Without such measures, the erosion of visual evidence could undermine democracy and societal cohesion.
- ▪Generative AI is erasing the connection between photographs and reality.
- ▪The article calls for legal frameworks and technical innovations to distinguish real from AI-generated images.
- ▪Synthetic images are being used in propaganda and to manipulate public perception.
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Technology Artificial Intelligence AI-generated images are making it impossible to distinguish truth from fiction. We need laws and AI watermarks to protect our shared reality. Generative AI is destroying the baseline assumption that photographs bear some causal connection to reality. That's bad news for democracy. By Akhil Bhardwaj published 23 May 2026 in Opinion MEMBER EXCLUSIVE When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Grainy, chaotic and blurred images of the Allied forces storming the beaches of Normandy in 1944 are stirring and significant in part because we know they are real. AI-generated images erode this shared understanding of reality.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Live Science.
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