Corner of Memory
Having just finished Persona 4 Golden after roughly two years since I first picked it up, I'm off on a little bit of a binge of seeking out the obfuscated truths within the world. Which is a very apt topic when we look about the world of today as the vines of mistruths grow thicker, tightening around all of us. I wouldn't be surprised at this rate if Persona 6 doesn't end up being a tie-in direct sequel to Persona 4, as the world seems absolutely prime to facilitate it. What with all the lie-driven facets of media, both in the serious world and the irreverent one we inhabit, and the broadening tools for the aspiring liar to exploit practically falling at their finger tips, digging our way to the innermost truths is becoming more and more of a skill. I've done all I can to be on the ball myself, but how do you teach someone new coming into this world what's real and what's not? What value do those terms even have in a world where both are used as tangible and actionable currency? When is Persona 6 coming and why don't I have it yet? All pertinent questions.
Of course this is yet another topic that veers it's way towards the tools of misinformation, which unfortunately isn't a giant submarine with a giant server farm that mechanically filters all the world's flow of information in order to spit out altered results that subtly manipulates humanity into developing the way that a shadowy cabal of war-era elitists want. Although given the rise of ChatGPT and Stable Diffusion, I'm beginning to think that such a world isn't exactly far off. (We just need someone entrepreneuring enough, with near limitless funds who is a closet wierdo and a rapid Hideo Kojima fan- wait... someone check on Elon Musk right now!) Given that these tools have been thrust into the hands of the everyday man, one would be forgiven for believing this is the downfall of truth and trustworthiness within society, which is a bit of a hyperbole to be honest- but one can't deny the fact that AI is certainly having a serious part to play in the pollution of the Shadow World within Humanity's heart.
With Search Engines and lazy customer support centres adopting writing algorithms into their daily operation, we've been able to see the breakdown of reliability across already shaky infrastructure. Bing, for instance, showed off how their new AI search assistant will confidently pull it's data from any old source on the Internet it can find, irregardless of corroborating evidence or stronger differing facts. Only the AI picks these half-truths and straight lies out and presents them without the alternatives that a faceless search engine would- essentially thrusting the onus of discovering the truth onto the searcher who, most of the time, isn't a trained journalist who does this regularly. And the rise of AI image generation has led to tons of paid art boards being flooded with low effort, easily identifiable, computer composites that lazy creator's charge pretty pennies for- covering up the true heartfelt passion of the traditional artist hidden underneath.
But of course, this culture spreads back a little further, doesn't it? Who remembers that leak for 'Spiderman: No Way Home', showing off Andrew Garfield way before his inclusion with the project was a known definite. (I mean we all kind of knew, but we didn't know yet) Mr Garfield, thinking quick on his feet, thrust the excuse onto the image generation boogey-man of the day- Deepfake tech. And for the moment it was a convincing misdirect. Deepfake technology is capable of compositing images together to startlingly realistic ends, such to the point where rumours persist Russia employed deepfake videos of Zelenskyy surrendering Ukraine at the beginning of their conflict as a befuddlement tactic. Now for the moment there are still lighting and movement giveaways that the human eye is capable of detecting; but the tech is improving so fast that for the Spiderman lie at least, there was a genuine moment where the Internet wondered if they were being misled or if they were, indeed, looking at the single most impressive Deepfake ever made. That is scary.
Of course Deepfake tech has slightly more, just as eyebrow raising, applications; such as when specialised adult sites starting using it for their own goals. Already questionable until a site which targeted popular internet personalities, without their consent, came roaring into the forefront of news very recently. With tech like this, suddenly our own likenesses can be turned into algorithms and formatted without anyone being the wiser. For the moment it requires a steady stream of face pictures from various angles in order to make a convincing composite, but how many pictures of your face exist online already? Really? Check your Instagram, or your Twitter; you may have the tools to be made into the next AI fabricated storyline already out in the ether without even realising it!
Which brings me back around to the story which inspired all this pontification to begin with, and believe it or not this actually comes back around to Persona! (I know!) Because as ATLUS stubbornly refuses to let anyone in on the details of their next mainline, non gatcha, entry to their beloved universe; stories have started to pour out on their own. Some speculation, some outright confident fabrications, and one in particular an apparent leak. Maybe you've seen it, a five second snippet of what looks to be a high-poly remake of Persona 3, or one of Persona 3's main characters at least, casting 'Myriad Arrows'. (I think.) It's a frenetic looking scene, much more so than the footage of Phantom X we've already seen, leading people to believe that this is the very first look we're received of a full blown Persona 3 remake on the horizon.
Now I don't believe any outlet has confirmed the footage, but they have talked about a Persona 3 remake being apparently in development for several years now: which creates a dilemma. If this information was already publicly accessible, who's to say that what we're seeing here isn't the high quality animation of a fan imaging what a Persona 3 Remake would be using the tools available to them? Think about it, the Internet if full of talented individuals who can create incredible 3d and 2d animation without the tools and staff of a major studio. Just within the past couple of weeks we've seen the debut of an incredible looking animated pilot on Youtube with 'Lackadaisy'; is a 5 second snippet of a Persona game really beyond the realms of fabricated possibility?
We've reached the very special point in life where it seems nothing is true and everything is permitted, for the tools of reality have been passed into the hands of everyone. But in a world where an convenient lie is certainly more palatable than a rough truth, who's going to opt to see the ugliness of reality in the eye? 'A lie can make it halfway around the world before the truth has put on it's pants', posited Mark Twain, but I rebut that the real problem of today is the fact that lies and truth move at the same speed and wear the same pants. You no longer need to find minute reporting suspicious and even verified reporting can turn out being wrong down the line. If Izanami-no-Okami truly believed she would return to the world when she was wished for in men's hearts, well I'd say it's looking like she's prepped for a round two!
No comments:
Post a Comment