Deception reigns in the death-style of illegal street racing and reckless driving. It is common for the drivers to wear masks to disguise their face, use voice altering technology to disguise their voice on camera and affix fake license plates while they race to disguise their registration. They go through many deceptive practices to conceal their identity, it makes us wonder, do they truly know themselves?
If we could speak to a racer right now, we would ask – Who are you? Not the name that they call you in the streets. Who. Are. You?
Teens and young adults drivers are being influenced to embrace illegal street racing and reckless driving. More accurately, they are being targeted. We get a lot of criticism for saying that Fast & Furious and video games such as GTA (Grand Theft Auto) are negatively influencing young adults and teens driving habits. But, listen in as this young man, known as America’s Most Wanted driver, says, he watches Fast & Furious all the time because he wants to replicate the famous driving under the semi-truck scene. Truthfully, that scene CAN NOT be recreated by an illegal street racer. If they attempt to do it, they will die. The semi-truck in the movie was elevated and visual effects courtesy of CGI (computer-generated imagery) were used. That scene WAS NOT REAL. We don’t know if these young adults know this.
The conversations of these young adults are infused with GTA references that further distort their reality. For example, the people who we would call “innocent, unsuspecting drivers and innocent bystanders”, the illegal street racers call them “NPC’s”. What is an NPC? It is an abbreviation for “non-player character”, a term used in video games such as GTA. NPC’s are controlled by the game’s AI. Now, check this out: “modern AI models let NPCs respond to the actions players take, making them feel more alive and engaging”. The lines of reality have become so blurred, the deception is so strong, that these drivers are living out a video game simulation on real life highways and roadways.
Today’s teens and young adults should be called the Gen Influencers, not Gen Z. This generation is the “digital native”; they have never known a world without the internet and cell-phones. Gone are the days of commercials. Instead, influencer marketing is driving purchases, shaping beliefs and dictating values of today’s teens and young adults. Yesterday, the influencers used to be human. Today, we are seeing the unveiling of AI Influencers, which truthfully, is terrifying. These AI Influencers appear convincingly real; some even refuse to state that they are AI. They have identities (names, ages, cultures, races) and they are making thousands of dollars a month (in real money) in brand deals. They are exploitative. It won’t be long before the AI Influencers begin to exploit and prey upon the appetite for deception that these digital natives, street racers included, already have.
This is outlandish and incredible to those who are not of the Gen Z. It can be challenging for the older generations to understand and empathize with the complexities and nuances that are fueling the illegal street racing and reckless driving death-style. Despite the challenge, we have to acknowledge that this is the reality that is targeting and shaping the world(s) – real and artificial – that Gen Z lives in. Only through the “sharing straight truth” will these drivers have a chance to break free from the delusions, the lies and the death.