Have you ever read something, or seen something and questioned its origin? Seen rumours that may make sense, but the genuinity of which has riddled you? Just in the last year itself, we have seen smiles appear where they never existed, dates happen without being proposed, and a photo win a photography contest, without passing through a camera lens. How, you ask? All thanks to the wonder that is AI, which now helps us create and collaborate with aplomb. However, with all its splendour, it also raises questions on the authenticity of every piece of information? What we saw as the future, is now a reality. We’re in the realm of artificial intelligence. And it is time to take on the mantle of responsibility & regulation, before AI takes the responsibility of regulating us.
Generative AI, on one hand, is a tool that brings convenience, but on the other, it is also a tool for misinformation that could prove risky to humanity. The only way to avoid such scenarios is with complete disclosure. A declaration that negates the effects of harmful misinformation that could lead to chaotic outcomes. This is when we, a group of creative individuals at The Minimalist, decided to step forward, and create icons that would bring clarity to end the disparity. These icons are called – The Authenticons. A name derived by combining two words, Authentic + Icons.
These iconic heroes have been summoned to fight the good fight against plagiarism, spreading of fake news and the creation of fake profiles to scam people. In times where ethics seem shaky, fake propagandas lead to manipulation, and creativity faces an uncertain future, The Authenticons aim to demarcate visual, textual and audio content based on AI or Human implementation.
We created symbols for human made, AI generated, and a combination of both.
The idea was to create icons through a service design approach that were as simple and functional, like the veg-non veg marker, or the male female symbols that we are all so familiar with, amongst other such popular symbols. Research showed that this group needed to be simple, type based for wider visibility and have human elements to ensure that they are easily understood.
Ease of use was top of mind during ideation. And the inspiration came from the universal language of mathematical codes that are script agnostic. The eyeball, an amazing natural scanner that can detect the difference between Human made and AI generated images over time, became our starting point.
Using this insight and the keys available on every keyboard or keypad, we created our first icon to represent human made with <o>
The next symbol needed to represent Artificial Intelligence, and the inspiration came from its abbreviation, AI and became ^[
Once these two were established, the third icon for Human & AI came organically, combining the first two icons to create ^o[
The mission assigned to these Authenticons was simple, reach out to people and ask them to authenticate their content. Because no one wants to live in a world where a non-existent virus cooked up by AI goes viral, or an insensitive piece of work hurts sensibilities due to the absence of human emotion. A new age beckons, but a new rage reckons we need stronger etiquette. Which is why we implore you to keep an eye on the marvels of AI and embrace The Authenticons!
PS: TM does not hold any IP rights to the aforementioned icons. We encourage people to use these as and when they see fit, without the need for credits.
Click below to download .png icons
Click below to download .svg icons
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