Three-part series examines AI’s effect on social media and democracy
The Wall Street Journal on Aug. 1 published a three-part podcast series, “AI and the Blurring of Reality,” examining how generative artificial intelligence is reshaping social media users’ ability to distinguish genuine content from AI-generated fabrications.
Hosted by Journal personal-technology columnist Nicole Nguyen, the series airs Saturdays in the Journal’s Tech News Briefing feed. Nguyen wrote that users scrolling through social media might encounter “anything from a real person whose facial expression has been digitally manipulated, to a fake grandma attending Coachella.”
The series explores the effects of widespread AI-generated content on social media through conversations with researchers, creators, and an AI character, Nguyen wrote. The episodes examine how those who create such content — from casual creators of AI influencers to malicious actors attempting to influence politics — are reshaping the online environment.
The podcast goes “beyond mere deception” to examine potential threats to the fabric of democracy, Nguyen wrote. The series also offers listeners tips on identifying AI-generated content as experts continue what Nguyen described as “the increasingly-difficult task of determining what is real and what is AI.”
Nguyen covers consumer technology companies’ products and policies for the Journal, including the privacy implications of AI tools and the life cycles of connected gadgets. Producer Julie Chang, a former radio reporter and producer at KQED in San Francisco whose work has been featured on NPR, produced the podcast.