Rethink… authenticity

In an age where AI can simulate reality, how can we tell what’s genuine and what’s not? Whether it’s art or someone’s character, does it always matter if we can’t spot a fake?

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BBC Radio

Rethink: AI…what is authentic and what is fake.  Forgers have always tried to pass off copies as great artworks, but it’s not always clear when an artist was responsible for an entire painting or farmed out parts of the job to apprentices. A few well-known modern artists outsource all of the construction and manufacture of some of their works to skilled craftsmen and women.  Although the idea is theirs, does that make the final product somehow less than the genuine article?

Presenter: Ben Ansell.  Producer: Ravi Naik.  Editors: Lisa Baxter and Nick Holland

Rethink is a BBC co-production with the Open University.

Art Critic Estelle Lovatt explores how artists through the ages have captured the spirit of Easter.

Estelle Lovatt, AP Associated Press, Bansky’s Jack Vettriano at auction

https://apnews.com/video/a-treasured-banksy-painting-could-raise-up-6-3-million-at-auction-34732112780b4edd98f7374e2071a871

A treasured Banksy painting could raise up $6.3 million at auction

A rare Banksy painting with a sharp environmental message is set to go under the hammer at Sotheby’s in London. Crude Oil (Vettriano), a reworking of Jack Vettriano’s The Singing Butler, is expected to fetch up to $6.3 million at auction. (AP Video: Mustakim Hasnath)Published 5:31 PM BST, February 26, 2025