With all that's going on in the world, the media doesn't seem to be paying much attention to advances in AI. This is concerning considering given the potential influence AI will have on our world. Stephen Hawking even went so far as to warn that AI could end mankind.

There is now a disturbing regularity of stories in the media, often posted as what seems like clickbait or infotainment, about AI inroads. This one is from years ago: https://thispersondoesnotexist.com/. OK, that's cool. But it's been getting much creepier. And I don't even seriously follow this stuff.

Here's a story about Amazon monitoring and responding to their drivers with AI: Amazon driver quits, saying the final straw was the company's new AI-powered truck cameras that can sense when workers yawn or don't use a seatbelt

But this next one, if it is indeed real (and that's the point! Is it?), if it is indeed real, it's, well, you'll see. Here's the story that about the tiktok link: Slick Tom Cruise Deepfakes Signal That Near Flawless Forgeries May Be Here.

And here's the tiktok link cited: deeptomcruise.

If that is a true Tom Cruise deepfake, we are in deep shit. It looks so real to me that I'm not convinced it's fake. Is it a hoax with the real Tom Cruise taking part? Or, if it is truly fake... But see that's the point. I can't tell. So if it is fake, then we can no longer trust any digital media we see. It's absolutely world changing.

If this is real, the propaganda and persuasion are about to go ballistic. I think this is far more serious than how it's being portrayed in the media. Hawking was talking about AI being able to think. This is just a baby step in that direction, and already I can see dire consequences.