Is this real or AI?
Darling, when was anything ever real?
I just watched a reel. A crying baby calms down when a dog next to him starts howling — the baby starts copying the dog, laughing. Heartwarming, silly, adorable. But what are the comments?
“This is AI, right?”
“No way this is real.”
“I don’t trust anymore.”
Trust what, exactly? That a baby laughed at a dog? That a screen made you feel something?
Why does it suddenly matter if it was “real”? Was it ever?
Because I’m looking at Instagram, honey — where every second “real person” is a semi-filtered, botoxed, shimmer-highlighted construct of wishful thinking. We don’t interrogate that with the same ferocity, do we?
Nobody goes around saying:
“Are those real lashes or extensions?”
“Are those real abs or gym-lighting + waist trainer?”
“Is this family vacation really happy or is she just hiding a divorce behind the palm trees?”
We know the answer. We always knew. But we were okay with it — as long as it was human fakery.
When you reach for a pack of crisps, do you cry out:
“Are you even real potatoes?!”
No. You eat the damn chips. Because they taste good.
So maybe it’s time to ask yourself:
Did this clip entertain me?
Did it move me?
Was I touched, amused, delighted — even for a second?
If yes, maybe you got what you came for.
You read Greek myths, you cried over Bambi, you cheered in Marvel films — knowing full well none of it was real.
You’ve built entire belief systems, cultures, civilisations around stories.
But suddenly, a howling AI baby shows up — and your trust issues kick in?
Everything you consume for entertainment is fake by design. That’s the whole point.
Actors don’t die when their characters do.
Dragons aren’t real, despite the Emmy nominations.
Even “based on a true story” is PR-speak for “we changed a lot but please cry anyway.”
Where was your outrage then?
When the green screen wiped out the skyline? When the hero survived a ten-story fall because… plot?
You didn’t care — because you were entertained.
