Hard to remember, but the entire chain of recording, editing, distributing and broadcasting media was entirely via analog formats and analog handling.
When digital media first became an option, it was often not as high quality.
And since digital was easier to manipulate, it was often viewed as less trustworthy as it got better & better.
We stopped worrying about the manipulation of digital when its quality advantages became so great that digital was pervasive.
At that point, all media was digital and easily editable, so digital was no longer a red flag.
The truth of digital media was considered based on its sources, confirmation from second sources, etc.
Digital no longer meant less trustworthy because everything was digital.
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We are going through those same stages with AI media.
Easy to do many things with AI now, but the results are often awkward or slightly odd.
As it gets better we have greater trouble trusting what AI produces.
But soon everything will be so easily editable, enhanceable, etc. via AI, so basically everything will be.
And the veracity of content will rest again, on sources, etc.
AI itself won’t be a red flag of manipulation anymore, because everything will involve AI.