Folks are really out there arguing that generative AI represents the death of truth in advertising like we haven't spent decades watching TV commercials pour motor oil on pancakes because real syrup doesn't look like what people expect syrup to look like.
I think what the present discourse about generative AI in advertising really highlights is that a concerning number of people genuinely have no idea how far removed your average TV spot is from the reality of whatever it's trying to sell you. Like, I don't just mean camera tricks and good lighting – I mean that more often than not, the thing on screen simply objectively does not depict the thing you're buying. We're trading one maliciously deceptive simulacrum for another.
Even tho that's technically true, I still think the art of making fake food is still cool and shouldn't be replaced with AI
I think when discussing the evils of the Lying To You In Increasingly Intrusive Ways industry, the artistic integrity of the medium they're using to lie to you is a deeply silly thing to be concerned about tbh.
What ever happened to artisanal lies. With toothpicks and glue and green screens. You used to need to hire someone to make the lies for you. Not only is that jobs lost, but it took effort, and the harder it is for lies to be produced the better.
Weirdly enough: this is accurate. I think it's not about the sacrifice of "truth in advertising," but about the sacrifice of any semblance of verisimilitude. (And also: about the laziness. Mostly the laziness.)
