[ExI] Semiotics and Computability

[Gordon Swobe]

"Depiction" seems like the perfect word for conveying my meaning.
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Main Entry: de·pict
Pronunciation: \di-ˈpikt, dē-\
Function: transitive verb
Etymology: Latin depictus, past participle of depingere, from de- + pingere to paint — more at paint
Date: 15th century

1 : to represent by or as if by a picture <a mural depicting a famous battle>
2 : describe 
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If and when we develop the technology to create complete digital simulations of people, we will then have only the capacity to perfectly depict people in digital form. Those digital depictions of people will only *represent* the real or imaginary people they depict. They will have the same reality status as do less sophisticated kinds of depictions, e.g., digital photographs, digital paintings, digital drawings and digital cartoons.

It seems to me that no matter how hi-tech and life-like our depictions become, there will always exist an important difference between the depiction of the thing and the thing depicted. Some people will however become so mesmerized by the life-like realism of the digital depictions that they will conflate the depictions with the real or imaginary things they depict. They will forget the difference between the photographs of people and the people in the photographs.

-gts