Why it's time to change the conversation around synthetic media

Editor's note: This story was updated Aug. 13 to correct the spelling of AI startup Synthesia. The past few years have seen artificial intelligence reach a tipping point, fueled by record levels of investment and the growing availability of training data. Yet what we see today is still only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to AI's creative potential. Various incarnations of synthetic media -- content generated or manipulated by AI, often through machine learning and deep learning -- have already started to be adopted for commercial purposes. These include virtual assistants, fashion models, and chatbots that synthesize text and speech, and we've also witnessed a wave of virtual beings, including computer-generated Instagram influencer Lil Miquela, KFC's virtual Colonel Sanders, and Shudu, the first digital supermodel.