Patrick Henningsen: Reality Wars: AI, Influence and the Battle for Trust in Media

About Session

Description of talk: Tomorrow is here, and it's turbulent. An anarchic digital landscape, where the old boundaries of truth, authority, and credibility are shattering. What will be the future of journalism and media look like? There's a tsunami of content—much of it synthetic and amplified by AI, that's displacing traditional gatekeepers—now replaced by influencers (real and digital), and legacy media struggling to maintain relevance and trust. It's a world where velocity outpaces verification. We're told authenticity is the currency of the realm, yet AI fabrications are dominating the algorithms. Meanwhile, increasingly paranoid state institutions are partnering with corporate giants to censor and sculpt narratives. But that's not even the biggest challenge we're facing. The real frontline of the Reality Wars is how your brain is now being rewired through AI. Our society, and civilization are at a perilous crossroads. We'll discuss these challenges, and how to be resilient through this stage of human evolution.