The controversial image Photo: Kensington Palace / via X
The controversy over the first photo of the Princess of Wales released since her abdominal surgery is a high-profile example of the 'trustability crisis' about to hit modern society, says a NZ psychologist.
The photo has been retracted by four photo agencies, who say the image does not meet publication standards due to concerns the photo has been manipulated.
The Princess of Wales has been out of the public eye for some months, with the official explanation being abdominal surgery. She is not expected to return to public duties before Easter.
The released photo shows the princess with her three children, and Kensington Palace said it was taken by Prince William at Windsor earlier this week. It was accompanied by a Mother's Day message along with a "thank you" from the princess for the public's "continued support".
Associated Press and Reuters publicly released instructions not to use the photo, saying it had been manipulated "at source".
It's a very high profile instance of sorting truth from fabrication in the digital world, says psychologist and AI commentator Paul Duignan
He told RNZ Nights it was likely that somebody may have used digital technology to make some tweaks to the picture, but the problem was that now, in the new world we are going into, "basically anything can be fabricated".
He said up until now, people would need to see evidence for themselves, but society was about to leave that era.
"And we won't be able to tell just by looking at something, whether or not is actually true, valid, accurate.
"We're moving into a really new world, where we have to have to think about a new paradigm about what is and is not true."
He said the big issue was the time people had available to look at these things
"The layperson just won't be able to tell, basically because we don't have time to examine all these things as they come through."
He said this could result in a move back toward more traditional media, because they did have an interest in putting the time and resources into ensuring the accuracy of an image.
"We're going to need people to keep an eye on this for us, that's where I think things are going to go."
Listen to the full interview with Paul Dauignan here