Rudderless boats in a sea of misinformation

The new preoccupation about what is authentic is more about anxiety than skill. In a way, it's quite fitting that wordwise we have gone from gaslighting to authentic

- SANDIP ROY

From gaslighting, we have moved to authentic. 

Authentic is the Merriam-Webster word for 2023. Gaslighting was the word of the year in 2022. The search for authenticity reached new heights this year.

"We see in 2023 a kind of crisis of authenticity," Merriam-Webster's editor-at-large, Peter Sokolowski, told the Associated Press. "What we realise is that when we question authenticity, we value it even more."

Merriam-Webster does not analyse the reasons why people look up one word or the other. But it's not hard to guess why we are anxious about authenticity these days. Actors Alia Bhatt, Katrina Kaif and Kajol have all fallen prey to deepfakes. A woman with the morphed face of Bhatt showed up making obscene gestures while deepfake Kajol was seen changing clothes in front of the camera. ChatGPT has made it hard to figure out whether students are turning in papers that are really their work. While editing a book, a friend discovered that an entire chapter was written using ChatGPT, complete with authentic-sounding references that didn't really exist.

Sports Illustrated magazine carried articles by a Drew Ortiz whose bio said, "Drew has spent much of his life outdoors and is excited to guide you through his never-ending list of the best products to keep you from falling to the perils of nature." Then it turned out Ortiz didn't really exist and his profile picture can be found for sale on a website that sells AI-generated headshots.

This one comes with a description that reads "neutral white young-adult male with short brown hair and blue eyes". Ortiz is an Al-generated author. After Sports Illustrated was questioned about the AI-generated content by the site Futurism, all those articles vanished without explanation.