Opinion: When unregulated AI re-creates the past, we can’t trust that the ‘historical’ is real

A furious political leader shouting a message of hate to an adoring audience. A child crying over the massacre of her family. Emaciated men in prison uniforms, starved to the edge of death because of their identities. As you read each sentence, specific imagery likely appears in your mind, seared in your memory and our collective consciousness through documentaries and textbooks, news media and museum visits.

We understand the significance of important historical images like these — images…