Links for Friday, November 3
As 2024 approaches, so do deep fakes
Today’s miscellany includes several topics we’ll cover in more detail later — deep fake effectiveness, a plan for Gaza, IPCC chicanery, and a fascinating piece on the actual greenhouse effect. Plus, of course, your weekly musical treat: Beatles archaeology.
Links
Let’s look first at the effectiveness of deep fakes, the use of a person’s biometric data (face, body, voice) to produce images and videos of them doing what they never have done.
• Fake Bill Whitaker (60 Minutes)
This is from a 60 Minutes report:
This video is two years old. The tech has gotten better since then (more examples below).
File under “All your face are belong to us.”
Why does this matter? The use in electoral politics (think 2024 election) is obvious. Here’s something from February purporting to show Elizabeth Warren saying Republicans shouldn’t be allowed to vote:
“Allowing Republicans to vote could result in an outcome that does not accurately reflect the will of the people,” Fake Warren announces. The tweet from which the video was taken is here. The video from which the fake was made, a Chris Hayes interview with Warren, is here.
File under “Wonder if both sides will play this game.”