“Pics or it didn’t happen” was a thing people used to say online when they wanted to verify a claim. Technology has changed this.

We now regularly see a mix of the surreal and the fantastic. World leaders saying things they didn’t. Public figures seemingly endorsing fake products. And disasters that unfold before our eyes but didn’t really happen.

Now, anyone can create photorealistic images or videos using AI for a range of purposes. This has changed the nature of visual evidence and our relationship to photos and videos, more broadly.

The glut of AI slop we see online is eroding trust in institutions, gobbling up resources, and scamming people out of their hard-earned money.

When faced with this challenge, we might ask ourselves: what images can we trust in the age of AI? And how are individuals and organisations alike responding?

The changing nature of visual evidence

We still rely on photographs and videos as evidence in many contexts. Want to prove an UberEats delivery arrived safely and on time? Take a photo. Want to........

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