Can Truth be automated?

This article first questions the mainstream approach to disinformation, which is based on the idea that exposure to fake news causes changes in beliefs and behaviours. Empirical psychology shows that adherence to disinformation content must be understood differently to this perspective. In this sense, the fear that synthetic content produced by artificial intelligence will accelerate disinformation is exaggerated. At the same time, the idea of using these technologies to automate fact-checking and “restore the truth” also seems illusory, as it is based on the same paradigm. To understand this phenomenon, we must examine the transformation of the contemporary “regime of truth”, of which disinformation is a symptom. In particular, we must consider the crisis of “epistemic institutions”. This crisis must be understood in the context of a social experience of exclusion linked to the limitations of the meritocratic system. Finally, we intend to demonstrate that this regime cannot be described as post-truth, but rather as an obsession with truth and constant demystification, which is precisely linked to the questioning of epistemic institutions. The logic of constant demystification, fuelled by AI-generated content and specific to the sensory regimes of alertness and overreaction of social networks, obscures our relationship with the truth and hinders critical thinking.