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Deep fakes | |
2018.01.27 21:10:56 CET | |
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It seems Deep Fakes are becoming more and more popular. Today I saw | |
three articles about it online, one TV news show discussion and at | |
least two Tor hidden sites dedicated to the production and sharing of | |
Deep Fakes. | |
If you don't know what a Deep Fake is: it's the product of using some | |
of the most modern artificial intelligence techniques to replace the | |
faces of pornographic actresses with other faces, therefor producing | |
a "Fake" pornographic video. For example, placing the face of a | |
famous Hollywood actress on a porn video. Similar to Photoshop'ing a | |
face on a picture, but with videos, and with excellent technical | |
quality. | |
Unless the fake images are used for profit, I am unaware of any laws | |
which make them illegal - in other words, the images by themselves | |
are not illegal, but if you sell them or make a profit, then you | |
could be in trouble. But by the tone of the conversation online and | |
on TV, it seems this won't be the same with fake videos. | |
Another difference besides the media format is the ease of | |
production. A few days, some freely available software, sample | |
pictures, some patience and anyone could produce a fake video, with | |
*anyone*. I think this is the reason why people are so scared and I | |
understand them. | |
But I get *extremely* concerned every time new legislation is proposed | |
in response to new technology. Much more concerned than someone | |
producing and sharing a fake porn video with my face or my wife's | |
face. | |
No one can deny people have used mental imagery of strangers for | |
sexual pleasure for a long time. If someone produces deep fakes for | |
their own consumption, how is this different than mental imagery? If | |
the problem is the potential for sharing the end-product, then we are | |
opening a can of worms for the future, when brain-to-brain interfaces | |
are possible - or even if you extend the idea of freedom of speech as | |
the transmission of ideas. If one can explain to someone else the | |
sexual imagery they use, "sharing this content" freely, how is this | |
different than sharing deep fakes? | |
I can understand the fear of deep fakes and I need to think a lot | |
more about this issue, but my knee-jerk reaction is to be against any | |
legislation to make deep fakes illegal. |