Synthetic Verisimilitude and Epistemic Regimes in Algorithmic Culture: Affective and Sociotechnical Reconfigurations of Truth

The exponential proliferation of AI-generated content has redefined the epistemic architecture of digital culture, eroding traditional boundaries between truth, falsity, and belief. This study aims to construct a critical theoretical framework for understanding the emergent epistemic regimes of algorithmic culture, focusing on how synthetic verisimilitude is produced, validated, and circulated in AI-mediated environments. Employing a qualitative, exploratory-analytical design grounded in an interpretive and constructivist paradigm, the findings reveal that digital belief is not anchored in empirical validation but in the convergence of emotional resonance, cultural familiarity, and algorithmic amplification. The concept of performative real-syntheticism is advanced to capture this condition, arguing that epistemic authority now derives from algorithmic coherence and affective synchronization rather than factual correspondence. Taken together, restoring epistemic integrity in digital environments demands the cultivation of affective literacy, infrastructural transparency, and collective reflexivity as foundational components of responsible knowledge governance.