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I suspect that within the next 5 years we will see an incredibly sophisticated deepfake of some rising star politician saying something abhorrent. There will be

I suspect that within the next 5 years we will see an incredibly sophisticated deepfake of some rising star politician saying something abhorrent. There will be a media firestorm and their career will be ruined. Even if the media issues a retraction and describes how the deepfake was made, I still suspect there would be no recovering from the initial controversy.

dpeck 6y ago
More likely that it will be used as a way to doubt the reality of a real abhorrent thing that some well established politician said/did. In reality it will be both and no one will change because people don’t believe anything from the “other” side anyway.
- onetimemanytime 6y ago
  exactly, just as they deny grainy videos today
- hnrodey 6y ago
  Another possibility is that we have people defending the use of such fake videos using the reasoning "that's what this person is already saying! that's what this person already thinks! this video represents everything we already believe to be true about this person"
- rhn_mk1 6y ago
  This makes me think videos will not be seen as a source of truth but as a source of hearsay: "this is exactly what they would say anyway, so who cares if they did"? Following this line of thought, why not release deepfakes of yourself to provide plausible deniability for your statements? If people believe it - good! You meant to say it. If people decide it's not what you would have said, you didn't say it anyway.
xwdv 6y ago
I think the opposite, a deep fake will say something abhorrent, but radicalized supporters will agree with what was said and push it as truth. The politician will neither confirm nor deny the deep fake, and the Overton window will shift.
tempoponet 6y ago
What if discrediting the media is the point? Certain politicians say abhorrent things all of the time and go out of their way to vilify the media. A well-planted deepfake that makes a news cycle before being discredited would give them a permanent excuse to dismiss anything as "fake news". I'm surprised that it didn't happen in 2020.
nathias 6y ago
What can a politician even say to appear abhorrent to his tribe?

dpeck 6y ago

More likely that it will be used as a way to doubt the reality of a real abhorrent thing that some well established politician said/did. In reality it will be both and no one will change because people don’t believe anything from the “other” side anyway.

onetimemanytime 6y ago
exactly, just as they deny grainy videos today
hnrodey 6y ago
Another possibility is that we have people defending the use of such fake videos using the reasoning "that's what this person is already saying! that's what this person already thinks! this video represents everything we already believe to be true about this person"
rhn_mk1 6y ago
This makes me think videos will not be seen as a source of truth but as a source of hearsay: "this is exactly what they would say anyway, so who cares if they did"? Following this line of thought, why not release deepfakes of yourself to provide plausible deniability for your statements? If people believe it - good! You meant to say it. If people decide it's not what you would have said, you didn't say it anyway.

xwdv 6y ago

I think the opposite, a deep fake will say something abhorrent, but radicalized supporters will agree with what was said and push it as truth. The politician will neither confirm nor deny the deep fake, and the Overton window will shift.

tempoponet 6y ago

What if discrediting the media is the point? Certain politicians say abhorrent things all of the time and go out of their way to vilify the media. A well-planted deepfake that makes a news cycle before being discredited would give them a permanent excuse to dismiss anything as "fake news". I'm surprised that it didn't happen in 2020.

nathias 6y ago

What can a politician even say to appear abhorrent to his tribe?