Will 'Deep Real' Counter the Rise of Deepfake?

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Prediction: The 2024 Word of the Year will be “Deepfake.” This stuff is popping up everywhere, gumming up elections, disrupting careers, scamming grandparents, depressing children and causing growing levels of mayhem across societies. Companies who are barely involved in A.I. are using the term in an effort to falsely juice up their valuations (called "A.I. washing"). Even LinkedIn is flooded with content from users pretending their posts didn't come straight out of ChatGPT. Is the new reality all fake?

It got me thinking, what is the opposite to Deepfake? What can we call an A.I. enhanced reality where this new technology helps create and develop better relationships between people? I initially came up with "Deep Authenticity," but that doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. Maybe "Deep Real"? Let’s go with Deep Real.

Can A.I. help us get to Deep Real? What are the A.I. products are in the market today helping us enhance human connectivity? 

I’ve written about this already, so I’ll only mention it briefly:  Hyperbound.ai is a tool that helps customer-facing reps practice their conversations and sales pitches using AI bots who are programed to behave like real prospects. It helps salespeople communicate more effectively.

Another tool I’m excited about is Ren.ai which provides AI coaching to individuals across an organization. Let’s say someone wants to prepare for a difficult conversation with an employee or a client, this tool acts as a guide and coach to help put together the most effective message.

In both cases, these tools can enhance existing sales and leadership development programs, making them significantly more scalable and offer targeted reporting and other insights I could never provide on my own. It seems like there is more need than ever to improve how we connect and collaborate with our clients and colleagues.

Maybe if they get powerful enough these tools will put me out of a job. If that's the case, I'll raise a glass to irony, unplug everything and run into the woods. At least then I won't have to ready any more ChatGPT posts.

But back to Deep Real. Who’s with me? Let’s seek out AI technology that will help us drive stronger human-to-human connections. The headlines will of course focus on the chaos, but the tribe on the other side of that story, the people working to strengthen communication across the globe, that’s the tribe I want to be in.  

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