22nd June 2025
As we approach the halfway point of the year, the ever-increasing presence of AI on media platforms opened the show this morning with our contributor Seamus Gunn referencing the unusual spectacle of the French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Vietnam when his wife was seen to push him before disembarking his presidential aircraft. Gunn thought that it was interesting not for the spectacle itself, which was no doubt embarrassing, but for the initial reaction from the Élysée Palace, who’s spokesperson suggested that this was generated by AI. This claim was later clarified after the video in its entirety was published, when they then acknowledged that the footage was genuine and Macron described it as he and his wife “bickering or rather joking” before disembarking. Greg Hughes was of the view that this was normal interaction between a couple and that it was quite common with which our contributor agreed but thought that what was of interest was the manner in which the media initially reacted to put out the notion of a “Deep Fake” which gained a lot of traction on the various platforms in order to discredit the embarrassing moment. The misuse of AI in this manner blurs the lines between truth and fiction, leaving it virtually impossible for the ordinary person to decipher what is or is not fake news. Gunn referenced the unfortunate tragic incident last weekend in Carlow where a young man had died after discharging a firearm in a Shopping Centre which was put out on X as a post thereafter that 7 people including a child had been killed. Our Taoiseach was also mentioned in this exchange, Gunn saying that there were in or around 340,000 views of this post which was entirely false. He said that the trusted media outlets of the past could be somewhat compromised if they are being fed fake news by politicians in order to distract from the truth of a situation.
There was also reference to the fallout between US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk and how this could play out in the public forum, Seamus Gunn suggesting that it was always a personality clash of 2 men with massive egos but that in his view it came down to money, referencing the tax and domestic policy bill introduced by the President which has had significant financial consequences for Musk’s Tesla Group which dropped 14% in share price in one day. A lot more is likely to follow on this front, Gunn not ruling out a backlash from Musk on his own xAI platform.
The debate continued into the next segment followed by the regular Q&A.