“Information is power” is a modern twist on the quote attributed to Sir Francis Bacon as far back as the 16th century. The initial phrase was “Knowledge itself is power.” Over time, we have seen this truth about control. The more knowledge one has, the more power he or she can wield. Yet, we face a systemic problem: the diffusion of information and knowledge.

What is Truth?

This question has troubled philosophers, religions, and everyday people. What is truth, and how can we know it is true?

This question will remain as long as humanity exists. The philosophers were right; all existence may be in answering the question “Why are we here?” I will not solve that question. Instead, as a modern person in the time dubbed the “age of information,” I want to explore what knowing the truth means. You might think we are closer to the truth now, but how far are we from it?

The term Infocalypse was coined by Aviv Ovadya to describe the crisis in our information system. Infocalypse refers to a breakdown in the marketplace of ideas. People either stop believing anything or accept everything as true. Fake news and clickbait on social media overwhelm us, leading to widespread distrust in the media.

I once asked Grok, ChatGPT, Deepseek, and Gemini, “What is truth?” After they defined it, I asked, “Can you say everything you opine is the truth?” They replied, “No. They build on data and code, aiming to provide useful and accurate answers, but not absolute truth.”

Why ask this, knowing AI responses come from years of data? Between 2023 and 2025, surveys showed that over 70% of users trust AI for accurate information. Yet only 35% to 40% of them check that information independently. Do you see the issue? People trust AI, and they maintain low verification.

Nina Schick, in her book Deep Fakes and the Infocalypse, argues that deepfakes erode trust and distort reality. Deepfakes are AI-generated or manipulated media—videos, audio, or images — designed to deceive.

We face not only data distortion on which AI will be built but also a surge of synthetic media and deepfakes. So even when confronted with the truth, how can we be sure it is true?

Proposed solutions to counter the infocalypse include Authenticity Infrastructure, incentives in information systems, and initiatives like the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI) and Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) are building these structures.

These involve using embedded metadata to prove that someone has not altered the media. But while this may help with deepfakes, challenges remain. How many people can interpret metadata tags? How do we know the metadata itself is not forged?

We must build systems to protect the bits of truth we have before manipulation causes their loss. If information is power, how can we be sure we are getting the right information?