March 14th, 2024
Synthetic Truth: A New Issue of Gegenüber Magazine on the AI Age

The second issue of the digital transatlantic magazine Gegenüber (www.goethe.de/gegenuber) is now online! Synthetic Truth: The Great AI Swindle (www.goethe.de/gegenuber/synthetictruth) is a collection of articles that incorporates perspectives from Canada, Mexico, Germany, and the United States on the topic of artificial intelligence and its impact on society.

Is truth a personal opinion in the digital age? Experts, artists, and thinkers weigh in on the ways artificial intelligence is shaping society, from enabling creative collaboration to threatening democracy as we know it. Journey into the heart of the debate in Synthetic Truth: The Great AI Swindle, the second issue of Gegenüber. The magazine is available in English, German, Spanish, and French.

Below is a recommended reading list with highlights from the issue:

Stolen Creativity: Unfounded Fears in the AI Debate
The German photomedia artist Boris Eldagsen won the Sony World Photography Awards in April 2023. The unusual thing: He entered with an AI-generated piece and ultimately rejected the prize. Eldagsen weighs in on AI and creativity.
https://www.goethe.de/prj/geg/en/thm/tru/25358570.html

Pen vs. Code: Writers Take on AI in Hollywood
On May 2, 2023, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike after negotiations with the major film and television studios in Hollywood failed. One of the central topics of debate: the studios’ use of AI. Charles Dewey, a staff writer on Criminal Minds, sheds light on the challenges presented by AI in the entertainment industry.
https://www.goethe.de/prj/geg/en/thm/tru/25385957.html

Bad Machines: Deceitful Algorithms
The fear of machines is nothing new. From early examples of murderous robots in popular culture to ChatGPT’s untruthfulness, Priscilla Jolly, a PhD candidate at Concordia University, takes readers on a pop culture journey through the dangerous world of deceitful machinery.
https://www.goethe.de/prj/geg/en/thm/tru/25401292.html

Truth as a Function: Philosophy
Truth has a fundamentally orientational function for humans. We want and need to know what is true and untrue because we cannot rely on instincts alone — instead, we have to try to find our own way in this confusingly complex world by differentiating between what is true and untrue. Leonhard Emmerling, an art historian and the director of the Goethe-Institut in Chicago, investigates.
https://www.goethe.de/prj/geg/en/thm/tru/25327076.html

Artificial Discourses: Democracy and AI
Language is capable of enveloping the masses, and new technologies are creating elaborate masks to hide behind. Are we ready to detect political manipulation generated by AI? Mexican writer Mariana González takes a deeper look into this pressing issue.
https://www.goethe.de/prj/geg/en/thm/tru/25412092.html

Read the full issue here: www.goethe.de/gegenuber/synthetictruth

Contact

Tatjana Brode
Director of Communications North America
Tatjana.Brode@goethe.de