AI-ASSISTED SOFTWARE COULD USE YOUR SELFIES FOR PORN
Reddit users are using AI software to create fake hardcore porn using the faces of famous celebrity women, in an era where we upload everything it could be dangerous.
There is not a day, or even an hour, that goes by that we aren't warned about the dangers and inherent threats of technology. All these questions keep raising, will there be a robot uprising? Could hackers start a nuclear war? Will sex robots replace intercourse between humans? Worrying, yes, but these concerns do seem far-fetched. But the very real and insidious implications of today's available technology and artificial intelligence is worth talking about.
In 2017, Motherboard reported that a Redditor, who goes by the name of 'deepflakes' used AI-assisted tools to create a video of Gal Gadot having sex with her brother. Except it is not actually Gal Gadot, instead it is footage depicting an incestuous scene with the actress's face essentially face-swapped onto the body of a porn performer using machine-learning algorithms. It is far from perfect, but it is convincing enough, and it poses a potential threat to just about anyone.
Anyone with an interest in machine learning has been using software to forge photographs and videos to share online since the internet began, but, usually, programmes like Photoshop have been the go-to, which are time-consuming and laborious. AI algorithms are basically Photoshop gone nuclear.
AI software that 'deepflakes' used is not simple butit can be self-taught, and such software could produce persuasive fake imagery and videos that go as far as swaying elections, and even provide material for hate groups. Revenge porn is a malicious form of online abuse, and AI tools are an obvious risk factor. Most of us do not think twice before we post that selfie across our social platforms, making sure we look good and that everyone knows our outfit was looking sublime, without considering the potential repercussions.
'Deepflakes' combines open source AI software, including Google's TensorFlow, with readily available stock images and photographs from Google's search, to create fake hardcore porn videos. He has previously used photographs from celebrities like Scarlett Johansson, Taylor Swift, and Maisie Williams and combined it into X-rated clips.
Sex work is habitually painted as victimhood with no agency; that a series of unfortunate events and circumstances could only ever lead someone to pornography. But this is simply not the reality for many porn performers. The worker's rights and dignity of people in the porn industry should be protected, and face-swapping celebrities’ faces onto another woman’s body, as in the case of Gal Gadot, reduces women to less than their bodies. They are treated as mere vehicles for humour and technological fascination.
A few tech-savvy Reddit users want to impress other users with explicit content, and in a way, it is a good thing that they aren't being policed. We roll deeper into the millennium and we can expect our faith in humanity to be tested time and time again.