The Unreal #TechVision The fact of the matter is, malicious use of the “unreal” has disinformation, what is real will become increasingly murky. become decidedly lucrative for bad actors; people have Not only will threat actors be able to cause direct damage to motive to do harm, whether for profit, political power, or businesses and their reputations, but they could undermine something else altogether. As such, disinformation-as-a- trust in the AI ecosystem on which businesses are now built. 145 service agencies have come to fruition. Not only do they create and spread disinformation – which is relatively cheap and hard to protect against – but they also enable those who 146 pay for it to distance themselves and deny responsibility. 73% In 2020, Wayfair found itself in the midst of a misinformation conspiracy that grew on Reddit and was originally created by of global consumers think that over 147 According to the conspiracy, the fact that Wayfair’s QAnon. the next three years, the number high-priced cabinets all had girls’ names in their label was of times they interact with artificial proof that they had actual missing children hiding in them as intelligence (AI) or AI-generated part of a trafficking ring. Not only did this gain significant U.S. social media traction, but it became a global trend. Wayfair content will increase. denied these claims, explaining the naming system for the cabinets and the glitch leading to occasionally high prices, but still, their reputation suffered. Equipped with the latest generative AI capabilities, consider just how much more damaging disinformation is poised to become. As there is more and more convincing and alluring Introduction // WebMe // Programmable World // The Unreal // Computing the Impossible 65