[As if today’s shameless denials and distortions of truth and polarizing media ‘bubbles’ weren’t big enough problems, this detailed and example-filled article from Fast Company argues that presence-evoking deepfakes will soon challenge our ability to understand and learn from our own history. See the original story for three videos. –Matthew] [Image: Credit: bashta/iStock] Fake video threatens to rewrite history. Here’s how to protect it AI-generated deepfakes aren’t just a problem for politics and other current affairs. Unless we act now, they could also tamper with our record of the past. By Benj Edwards October 3, 2020 Since deepfakes burst onto…

[Artificial intelligence will likely play an increasingly important role in our presence experiences and the new “dynamic film” Agence is an intriguing example of this potential. This story from Upload describes the project; see the original version for two different images and a 7:45 minute “gameplay walkthrough” video (also available via YouTube). –Matthew] Agence Is A Fascinating VR Deep Dive Into Evolving AI By Jamie Feltham September 28, 2020 While speaking to Pietro Gagliano of Transitional Forms and David Oppenheim of the NFB about their new VR film, Agence, Gagliano streams the piece itself. I watch as he toys with…

[Live Science is among the many publications reporting on a project to create presence-evoking portraits of Roman Emperors; see the original story for more photos. Excerpts from some of the other coverage that add more details and raise additional issues about efforts like this follow below. –Matthew] [Image: A description of Caligula said the emperor had “a glare savage enough to torture.” Credit: Courtesy of Daniel Voshart/The Metropolitan Museum of Art] AI ‘resurrects’ 54 Roman emperors, in stunningly lifelike images An artist used machine learning to create the photorealistic portraits. By Mindy Weisberger September 28, 2020 Ancient Roman emperors’ faces have…

[CNN Travel reports on a clever innovation in Japan that allows people to experience Halloween scares safely. As The News Wheel notes, Drive-thru haunted attractions are popping up all across the United States, hoping to keep Halloween on course despite COVID-19. But before The Haunted Road was announced in July, the concept of getting scared senseless from the safety of your car was given life (or unlife as it were) in Tokyo, Japan, thanks to Kowagarasetai and its drive-in haunted house. See the original version of the CNN story for a 1:43 minute video and see an AP story for…