“You can fool some of the people all of the time; but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.” ~John Lydgate of Bury St Edmunds Abbey (c1370 -1451)
In this time when the most spoken word in the English language seems to be artificial, I am observing an increase in the lack of genuineness and authenticity amongst us fellow human beings.
These days you can have a presence online and completely hide who you truly are. You can post anything online regardless of how inaccurate or false it may be without leaving a single fingerprint to reveal your true identity or to take accountability for the information you are putting out in the world. You can create a false resume, education, experience, list of your achievements, or a history that is so unbelievable and without a single shred of documentation.
Phony, Fake, Bogus & Artificial-Intelligence
Have you noticed that practically every time you now hear the word intelligence it is in conjunction with the word artificial? It is as if the word artificial has become a pre-fix for the word intelligence, maybe they should be hyphenated.
For the record, artificial actually means fake, phony, sham, or bogus. As opposed to authentic, which means genuine, realistic, honest, and true.
Please know that I am not ignorant to not comprehend how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can benefit the world in many areas, science, design, healthcare, etc..
But, when it comes to people being authentically human, the ability for humans to think critically, or genuine human connectedness, I believe it is, has, and will continue to have a devastating impact on our ability to be genuinely human.
Artificial Intelligence Leads to Artificial Integrity
It gets worse! Why? Because the snowball effect of this reduction in authenticity can bring about a reduction in the level of integrity between us and within our society.
How? Well you can easily create a false persona online. You can have AI write an entire book and you call it your own even though you didn’t pen a single word. I refer to this as the “Great Plagiarism of the 21st Century.” You can write a thesis, clean it through tools that remove AI detection (yes, there are multiple videos on how to do this) so that AI does the majority of your work and you can then claim it to be your own in order to receive your artificially achieved PhD.
It is like a scene from the movie Poltergeist when the malicious spirits arrive in the little girl’s house through the television and she eerily says, “They’re here-er”
It’s Here-er!!!
We already see this happening, just this past week another college professor, this time from Cambridge, after being caught in multiple lies and accusations of plagiarism decided to step away (hide).
In his own words, “for my own well-being, for my family, and for those who have stood by me throughout this difficult period, I have concluded that the only way to bring this chapter to an end is to step away.”
Not only are there accusations and evidence of plagiarism in his work, he claims he ran 600 miles in 6 days, raised 5.5 million pounds for charity when he ran 30 marathons in 30 days…and on and on and on. Of course, he denies all of these claims and stated that he is being singled out.
Last year, a Harvard Professor who had written extensively on the topic of honesty was stripped of their tenure after allegations that they falsified data about honesty. Talk about your oxymoron?
This is happening with leaders in our institutions of higher learning, doesn’t it make you wonder what is happening at the student level? Aren’t our institutions where genuine intelligence is supposed to be coveted, rewarded, and revered?
Now is this all because of Artificial Intelligence, of course not! People have been making false claims for years. The point is that AI creates an easy on ramp to being an AP (Artificial Person).
You Can Fool Some of the People…
People are pretty good judges of character and especially if you’re their leader. They know when their getting manipulated no matter how eloquently you speak or what you say.
Think of the famous politician’s response to whether he had sexual relations with a woman and he says, “It depends on what the definition of is…is” Remember that lil’ ditty?
The simple truth is this…you are either being truthful or you’re not. You are either putting on a false facade or you’re not. Period the end. Only you know deep inside whether you are being genuine and authentic.
Choose Wisely
Let me let you in on a little secret. You cannot give away something you do not have. If you want honesty from others you have to be first willing to be honest with them first. If you want respect from your people you have to be willing to give them respect first.
There are Universal laws in this world (laws that cannot be broken) and this is one of them…The Law of Reciprocity – If you want something in return you first have to be willing to give it.
There is also the Law of Cause & Effect which states that every action has a reaction or consequence, some call it Karma. Karma may not happen to you immediately, but it will always happen to you eventually.
You can choose to be artificial or you can choose to be genuine. The choice will always be yours.
It is my hope and wish that you…choose wisely!
Till Next Time!
Still need a little help on being more authentic? (click here)
