Reality Check: Challenging Truth in an Era of AI and Misinformation
Authored by Meredydd Hardie
Welcome back to the Cultural Forces series! If you haven't already, check out the introduction to the series as we begin exploring the cultural forces and trends shaping our world in 2024.
In pharma and healthcare, it’s important to understand the industry-specific forces driving change. It’s also important to understand the larger forces impacting the wider culture. Our industry isn’t immune from these cultural forces; patients, HCPs, payers, and everyone else participates in the wider culture. Understanding cultural forces enables us to predict challenges and identify opportunities early. Our Klick Strategy community always looks for new angles to help us understand the world.
What to Know:
There is a growing collective sense that we are becoming untethered from a shared reality
Signals like the widespread proliferation of generative AI (GenAI) and hyper-targeted algorithmic content are driving this sense of unreality
2024 will be the end of a transitional period that is exacerbating this cultural force
One of the most significant impacts is the erosion of trust—something that is significant to patients, HCPs, and pharma brands alike
What Is “Questioning Reality”?
In 2022, our internal reporting said, “It’s becoming harder to understand what is real or even comes to a shared definition of reality, something that the rise of GenAI is only intensifying.” That’s when we first named this cultural force and predicted it would be a major factor in 2023.
Today, it’s clear that there is still no way to really tell what is real and what isn’t—in fact, some people are questioning what “reality” even means. While GenAI is part of this, so is dis/misinformation, the erosion of expertise, and the continued dominance of conspiracy theories (including fun theories like the Mandela effect, a phenomenon where a large group of people misremember past events and pop culture. It’s named for a common misconception that former South African President Nelson Mandela died in prison in the 1980s—one of the first “Mandela” effects).
Clearly, this force has been present for a while, but in 2024, we’re going to see it spread from a primarily online phenomenon to include offline reality as well. For example, proponents of various Mandela effect conspiracies actively search for real, physical evidence of their beliefs. We will also see more outward recognition that this is happening and discussion of what it means.
The Signals
We introduced the concept of signals as “Leaves” in our model of cultural forces in the introductory article of this series. Signals are the fast-moving trends and fads that represent a moment in time. As a collection, they can indicate the direction culture is moving.
Several signals and factors tell us about this cultural force, including:
Signal: Social media algorithms and hyper-personalized content
In 2024, we’re going to see more people realize that the hyper-personalized content they consume online means they have a warped perception of the general importance of certain issues, people, and events
Signal: News bubbles and ideological gaps
Beyond social media algorithms, news bubbles and ideological gaps create a fractured reality. Many people consume news and content specific to their point of view and never engage with other “realities.” Pew has been tracking these bubbles for years
More recently, we’ve seen a growing divide on gender lines as the ideological reality for women diverges from that of men
Signal: Growing adoption of GenAI image-generation tools by the general public
Right now, many people feel uneasy about the changes wrought by GenAI. We’re in a transitional phase that’s driving this sense of questioning reality as people experiment with when and how to use and share AI-generated imagery
Signal: Fun and funny conspiracies
Seventy-three percent of Americans believe that conspiracy theories are currently “out of control,” and 59% agree that people are more likely to believe conspiracy theories “compared to 25 years ago.” Approximately 77% of Americans believe that social media and the Internet are responsible for these increases.
As we enter 2024, we see more surreal theories fueling a sense of disconnection from reality. Mostly, these are jokes, but they’re also signals that reflect the current cultural zeitgeist of feeling untethered from reality
Signal: Surreal content
In 2023 (and earlier), we saw many TV shows and movies with surreal themes. Questioning reality was baked into the concept, reflecting this sense of cultural unease. Consider the TV show Twin Peaks; it was incredibly surreal and full of dread and uncertainty. It premiered the same year Tim Berners-Lee brought the World Wide Web to life. This might be a coincidence, but the early 90s was another time full of technological change and anxiety. Our media reflects the cultural zeitgeist; today, we see shows like Severance and The OA playing that same role
As we become more comfortable with GenAI and other technologies, our cultural need to cope through consuming surrealist content will diminish
What Will It Mean to Question Reality in 2024?
Questioning Reality for 2024 is the growing sense that we can’t always tell what’s real and what isn’t. This includes a feeling that we don’t all share the same reality. We believe it represents a collective uneasiness about a time of enormous change that is a transitional phase rather than an endpoint.
Patients are already struggling to understand what information about their health they should believe. In-person connections to HCPs are going to become more important in 2024—as will the requirements for these busy professionals to combat misinformation (The misinformation and disinformation surrounding COVID has a long tail, still impacting our world today)
Mental health care and wellness will continue to remain important as an antidote to the stress and anxiety induced by feelings of uncertainty
There will be a call for more transparency in healthcare communications and greater scrutiny on who is delivering these messages
The upcoming US presidential election and UK general election are going to be inflection points for this cultural force, moving us out of the transitional post-COVID period we’re currently in. The search for “Sources of Truth” will become critically important in 2024. Generally reputable sources like scientific journals and traditional news media may regain prominence (This is challenging in a time with large-scale layoffs of journalists at media companies across all industries)
The biggest impact of this cultural force is declining trust. Trust in the world, trust in friends and family, trust in oneself, and trust in organizations and brands.
The Impact and Future of Questioning Reality
The biggest impact of this cultural force is declining trust. Trust in the world, trust in friends and family, trust in oneself, and trust in organizations and brands. Trust is built on a shared foundation. How can we trust each other if we live separately and only with sometimes overlapping realities—especially if we already feel uneasy and uncomfortable about this fractured reality.
In the long term, we’ll move out of this transitionary adjustment period and accept that we live in a mixed-reality environment. Regulation won’t be the only solution, more experience will also help.
How to Leverage This Cultural Force
Recommendations:We understand that our audiences of patients and HCPs are feeling shaken and lack trust. Anything we can do to use pharma-specific content to reinforce confidence and stability can counter those feelings and build loyalty Avoid leaning into the “fake.” Brands should carefully consider public-facing products or campaigns that might erode trust
The best way to put this understanding into practice is to start with the data you already have about your brand, competitors, and the market as a foundation. Then, we will use what we know about this important cultural force driving change in 2024 to project potential scenarios. Once we understand what can happen, we’re better able to aim our brand at the most desirable potential future.
The Klick Health Strategic Futures team and wider Strategic community can be your partners in shaping that future.
Look forward to the next Klick Health cultural force, Collective Alienation, coming soon with more perspectives from the Strategy community at Klick.
Author
Meredydd Hardie
VP, Group Director Strategy
Meredydd is passionate about uncovering insights at the intersection of people, culture, and brand. With 15 years of experience, she has honed her skill translating signals into strategic intelligence. Her past roles in marketing involved providing innovative research methodologies and strategic insights for major brands like Coca-Cola and Toyota, enhancing their understanding of audience dynamics. At Klick, Meredydd applies her market research expertise across various healthcare domains, including oncology and mental health. She specializes in integrating diverse signal sources into research outputs from digital to market research, to guide Klick’s teams and clients in navigating the forces shaping the future.
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