Social Concerns
Digital manipulation directly affects society in that we are obliviously exposed to images on a regular basis. The issue of approaching digital imaging ethically is of great importance to our society as we turn increasingly to computer technologies and put strong faith and reliance on pictorial communication. Digital manipulation can be seen as “easy to do, hard to detect� (Coats & Ramsey 2000). Such a statement links accessibility issues with the progression in digital media, proving that it is a matter of social recognition concerning the use and exploitation of digital manipulation.
A specific concern includes the legal perspective of the influence of digital media and the consequences of increasing interaction with virtual reality. Digital manipulation affects traditional methods of authentication because there is now an ease and undetectability about falsification (Coats & Ramsey 2000, 34). In the court of law, photographs, audio and video recordings must be testified regarding recognition with the content and that it is “fair, accurate and true� (Coats & Ramsey 2000, 34). However, such advanced technology creates opportunity for deceit, as evidence may be in fact fake. A further glitch is that suspected photo fakes can no longer be simply compared with the original negative, as digital developments eliminate such a checkpoint, as the image is digital from the beginning.
The risks of digital evidence may require stricter authentication methods, though with the unstoppable progression of technology, developments are unlikely. Digital technology is most effectively mitigated by advocates and judges recognising its potential for misuse (Coats & Ramsey 2000, 37). Awareness and appreciation may prove to be the most practical solution because if images are able to be manipulated at will, by authoritative figures and others with invested interests in deceiving, proving authenticity will be no longer (Kizza 1996, 150).
This advanced technology however has many uses, with undoubted benefits in education, medicine and science. Digital manipulation and computer imaging tools can divide, evolve and bend images such as cells and light to enable students to visualise scientific elements. It enables outer space to be examined in depth, as well as the human body (Kizza 1996, 136).
As Bynum explains, the challenge is to "integrate computing technology and human values in such a way that the technology advances and protects human values, rather than doing damage to them" (1999).
Millie York 20:25, 28 Oct 2004 (EST)
