In 2026, it’s never been easier to be fake. AI can fake realistic images with Nano Banana, fake posts with Claude (you can make AI write & sound exactly like you and talk to your mom every day), fake AI influencers that you watch on TikTok or Sora, and even fake apps that are actually websites.

All short-term hacks that are possible can even make fake growth and fake unicorns.

I remember the authenticity trend started when people became sick of Instagram fakeness, and apps like “BeReal” took off. And now AI just increased the magnitude of fakeness.

The obvious take is authenticity and proof-of-personhood will matter 100x more.

The dilemma comes when you realize that you can gain short-term growth (likes/reach) by being fake: using engagement hacks, lying about numbers, pretending everything is fine when it’s not. Basically, you can get wins by trading the long-term for the short-term.

The consensus point we arrived at is winning is the most important thing, and if no one is able to tell, it’s okay to create fake content, say half-truths to farm engagement, it’s okay to lie to your users or your audience if it’s getting you growth. Back in the day we even said: “fake it till you make it”.

But imagine a post AI world where everything is clonable and can be faked. No one will be able tell if the content is real or not. No one will be able to tell if your growth is real or not. No one will be able to tell if you are real.

People will want to connect with real stories even more. Faking engagement and telling half-truths will not lead to growth. Trust will become even more scarce.

Fakeness will stop working everywhere. Posting a beautiful story on Instagram when you’re actually miserable won’t be considered high status if no one is able to say if the story was real or AI. Your company brand won’t get fixed if you switch from fake to real overnight.

In a world where everything is AI and fake, you eventually learn to stop trusting everything.

Ironically, the strategy to win becomes to just be yourself. To tell your real human story. To have the courage to be vulnerable. To build in public.

What about now? How do you make it to that point? How do you outcompete those who are just so great at being fake? Can’t you just fake it now and become real later? What about winning?

I realized the reason we want to fake stuff is we are not ok with failing. If you are ok with failing, it’s safe to be real: you can have the courage to tell your story authentically without fear of being disliked.

Being okay with failing doesn’t mean not wanting to win. The real way to win is to be great: actually create great content that’s authentic to you, actually build a great team, actually build a great product, and actually be a world-class specialist (better than Claude).

In the long run only real greatness wins. Don’t chase short-term wins – your goal should be to be really great. If you’re not great, you will realize it sooner and start working hard to become great. Faking it actually prevents you from becoming great because everything will look great on the outside, but deep down you’ll always know. If you admit it sooner, you will arrive at greatness much sooner.

If you are stuck in a short-term optimization loop, at least be aware that short-term growth hacks will not make you great – you’ll have to stop at some point and face the reality. Short-term growth hacks may get you in a better position to become great, as the world is unfair and you will have to use some hacks to solve money issues. But don’t let growth hacks run your life forever – they are named “short-term” for a reason.

I heard two good counter-points to my statement.

First, you could claim that people want to be tricked. Most of us want to believe things are better than they are, and are naturally attracted to the best versions of people & stories, not caring as much if they are half-true. While this is true, I’d argue that in the age of the fakeness abundance, people would start to desperately seek to be as true as possible to stand out.

Second, one can say that that there is nothing bad in being fake. Who cares if it’s fake if that’s what our primal brains love? The answer to that is deeper for me: I think that being fake actually kills you internally, thus it is not good for humanity. Hence it’s morally bad to be fake and we should strive to be real if we want to live our fullest.