A nebula overlooking Grand Place in Brussels. Image created by HI (human
intelligence) not AI. All images except the nebula are mine. The nebula is
courtesy of NASA.
Deep Thoughts on Deep Fakes
One of the biggest concerns about AI (artificial intelligence), especially within the industry, is deep fakes. Deep fakes are images and videos that have been doctored to make it appear the people are saying and doing things they have neither said nor done. In the past, such images and videos were painstakingly created by graphic artists and, for the most part, could on the most part be identified as fakes. AI can now create convincingly realistic deep fakes. Moreover, AI does not just manipulate images. It can also mimic voices with impressive results. Soon, just about any clown could ask an AI imaging app to create a picture of Donald Trump giving Vladimir Putin a blowjob and AI would oblige.
THis has all kinds of implications, many of which no one has even thought of. I however, have thought of a handful of implications and I leave them here for your consideration.
Political Deep Fakes
Political deep fakes are not as much of an issue as you might think. The political landscape has become so divisive and people are so ready to believe the rubbish they find on social media without even bothering to check its veracity. Tell an American left winger that Donald Trump eats baby humans and she'd probably believe you. Tell the same thing to a right winger and she'd scream "fake news!"
Deep fakes will be shown as supposed evidence of one side's misdeeds and utter lack of humanity and will be immediately renounced as deep fakes by the other side. Indeed, even untouched photos that conflict with one's beliefs will doubtless be rejected as deep fakes.
So, I predict that deep fakes will circulate widely, but make little difference. I also predict that deep fakes will lead to an avalanche of defamation trials.
Personal Deep Fakes
On the other hand, dishonest people might use deep fakes to cover their behaviour. A businesswoman, telling her husband she is at a conference in another country but who is actually at an orgy, could ask AI to generate some conference snapshots and group photos to send her husband on Whatsapp, reassuring him that his wife is not an orgy. A murderer could create a deep fake image that seems to provide her with an alibi for the time of the murder. A guy whose girlfriend dumped him for another guy might create an image of his ex having wild sex with yet another guy so as to make her current lover suspicious.
By the same token, a married woman photographed having sex with a woman who is not her wife could claim the photo is a deep fake. A celebrity video recorded at a racist rally could claim the video was a deep fake.
Deep Fake Finders
As a result, a parallel growth industry will be developing AI tools that can analyse images and videos to determine whether or not they are deep fakes (well, from a technical perspective, the software will probably give a probability rating indicating how likely it is that an image is a deep fake or not). This, in turn, will probably lead to two paths of AI image creation software development. A more legal path will make it possible to identify easily whether or not an image is a deep fake. Indeed, I expect that there will be legislation requiring this in the near future.
At the same time, a dark deep fake industry will grow. It will strive to develop software that creates deep fakes that fool the detection software. This, in turn, will spur the detection software developers to create better software. The result will almost certainly be a technology competition between the dark deep fake makers and the deep fake detectors.
Of course, deep fakes need not be about fooling people or making politicians look bad. There will also be a fun side to deep fakes.
Photorealistic Avatar
In online gaming, your avatar could be a realistic looking you. Better still you could be modifiable to suit the game. For instance, if your character is an elf, the you in the game could have elfian ears. If you feel your boobs are too small, the you in the game could allow the real you to vicariously experience the alternative.
Be a Movie Star
Within a few years, I expect films will be personalisable. You will be able to order from your video streaming service a version of the film in which you are one of the characters. I can imagine that there might be a pricing model for this. Being a minor character in a film you are watching would be free. Playing the star, on the other hand, might incur a fee.
But why do it alone? You and your sweetie could be characters in a romantic comedy. You and your friend could be characters in a buddy movie. Even your pets might play a minor role!
Be a Porn Star
The pornography business has long been a pioneer in new media technologies and AI will doubtless be an early mover in the personalised video field. So, within a few years instead of watching two or more people have wild sex, you will be able to watch yourself having wild sex with your choice of porn star. In some cases, such as distance relationships or even sex therapy, you and your partner could each play a character in a porn video.
And More
I got involved in the Internet in the early 90s. At that time, I knew it would be big, but I had no idea how big it would become and the manifold ways it has implemented itself into our lives (if you are interested, you can read an interview with me, from around 2001, where I make a few predictions about the future of the Internet).
Likewise, AI and imagery created on demand will doubtless create new products and services that no one has yet even considered. I am curious and, truth be told, a little apprehensive.
What do you think?
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