As I write this, four human beings are travelling to the Moon; Artemis II launched from Cape Canaveral on the evening of April 1, carrying Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen on a voyage that will go further from Earth than any human has been in the history of spaceflight. I watched the launch courtesy of coverage by CBC news, and for a moment, I felt awe and wonder at what our species can do when we set aside our differences.
Alas, friends of mine reported that, mere moments after liftoff, there were people claiming the launch was faked using AI. A laughable notion, but one that, in our current dark era of AI slop, we must face, and will continue to face, if and when we proceed to landing humans on the Moon and even establishing a permanent presence there.
Arguments of faked space missions have gone back to the Apollo moon landings, though the details differ (then it was supposed to be actors and movie sets; today, generative AI is the preferred culprit). I will leave the technical arguments against such fakery to the experts in the field and instead focus on why I suspect people would wish to deny the wonder and accomplishment of this moment.
Continue reading “Escaping the Jailers”