The manipulative essence of visual media: from man-made images to generative deepfakes

Abstract

The paper explores the problems of manipulation and reliability of information in the visual media. Manipulation is part of their essence. Distortions in the message arise from a shift in attention from reality as such to how it’s seen by others or who and how it’s represented. The objective vision is replaced by a presentation of the vision of others in visual media. This opens up the possibility of manipulation and becomes the reason for the creation of visual falsifications. Modernity has become the era of post-truth. Visual media are increasingly shifting towards total falsification with the development of digital technologies, artificial intelligence. The generated image turns out to be more real and reliable than reality itself. This paper uses the classification of visual media images based on how they are created. An attempt is made to identify the causes of distortions in the representation of reality at different stages of the development of visual media. The article analyzes how the technologies of creating visual images affect the development of manipulative and falsifying practices that undermine the credibility of the visual message.