A MOVIEGOER is amazed when he sees a computerized Arnold Schwarzenegger appear as he looked 40 years ago, complete with muscles, dialogue and movement. In another movie, three versions of Will Smith fight each other, one 20, one 30, and another 50 years old.
A Ukrainian turns on the television and sees Russian President Vladimir Putin declare he is withdrawing and the war will end soon. The viewer changes the channel and sees Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky stating that the war has been lost and that Ukrainians should lay down their weapons and come out of hiding.
Meanwhile, on Saipan, an internet surfer comes across a pornographic video featuring the Queen of England, who is 95 years old, and in the United States, grieving family members gather to watch a video of a deceased relative miraculously speak to them and even anticipate their questions.
All of these are examples of deepfake, a technology used to make someone appear to say or do things they never said or did. When I was young, we used to cut our heads out of pictures and glue them to pictures of weightlifters. The effect was amusing, but no one was really fooled into thinking those bodies were ours. The head was too big, the skin tone did not match, plus we were pretty scrawny compared to Arnold and his friends. In any case, even if we matched it up well, it was a still picture; the image could not move or talk, let alone engage in anything like fighting or committing a crime.
Computer technology has come a long way since I was making muscular versions of myself. Now, world leaders are being made to give speeches on television and fake pornographic videos featuring everyone from the Queen of England to MHS cheerleaders are on the internet.
How dangerous is this technology? In the wrong hands, it is clear what damage could be done. Imagine a student posting a deepfake video of a teacher molesting a child, or a high-profile criminal trial where deepfake images are used to establish a phony alibi, a video of the accused at a far-away location on the night in question, for example.
Destroying reputations and letting criminals go free are one thing. This week, deepfake videos of both Putin and Zelensky have swept the internet, with deadly consequences. In this war, technology has been as useful a weapon as artillery. Could deepfake videos affect the outcome of the war? Absolutely. Could lives be lost because of deepfake? Certainly.
In the 1997 movie “Wag the Dog,” someone combines various audio clips of the president to create a scandalous conversation that never actually took place, nearly destroying his administration and his marriage. In Ukraine, national leaders are made to say things in doctored-up videos that they never said, and people could die.
Outside of entertainment, I cannot think of a single useful application of deepfake technology, I am not even in favor of deceased relatives magically speaking to us, but I can think of many nightmare scenarios. Now more than ever, trusting your news source is critical. By the way, on the internet there is a great video of me in a hot tub with the Queen of England. I am the one that looks like a bodybuilder.
BC Cook, PhD lived on Saipan and has taught history for 20 years. He currently resides on the mainland U.S.
BC Cook
