The world is evolving at such a rapid pace. A brilliant man once said to me "No matter how cynical I get, I can't keep up." That resonated then and frankly, it resonates at an increasing frequency and pace with each passing day.
Days ago, I recapped the exceptional webinar "The Point." Last week it was all about Artificial Intelligence. See A Fool With a Tool (January 2024). There were great quotes delivered in that interchange and much knowledge. I got some great feedback on the web, and frankly, positivity in social media can be rare and appreciated.
Then the news broke Friday of "deepfakes" and a victimized singer. The same singer was recently the butt of a joke at the Golden Globes and the world reacted, according to Deadline. At the time, I was reasonably unimpressed. The joke was clean. The singer is a public figure. The intent was not malicious. And, frankly, there were weeming overreactions and untoward recriminations. It was, in the end, a joke. And you know what they say when you can't take a joke. Part of our problem today may be our distraction by little things that correspondingly matter little.
But the deepfakes. There is suddenly a massive awareness that deepfakes are a thing. No, they are not a new thing. No, Artificial Intelligence is not responsible for deepfakes. No, social media is not responsible for deepfakes. Those are certainly tools that facilitate deepfakes. Artificial intelligence, nay computers themselves, make the creation of deepfakes easier, faster, and more convenient. But the fault is with the miscreants that run the software, on the hardware, and use the social media.
Shall we ban computers? Must we fear them because they can be misused? I am dubious of that. I am no more confident in the mantra of the pitchfork crowd that will undoubtedly suggest that somehow it is AI at fault or social media at fault.
There is a positive in the singer's story. The media is expressing outrage. National Public Radio (NPR) headlines this as "exploiting." They note this is a "scourge." They note that the Internet and social media collaborated to facilitate rapid and widespread distribution of the scourge. To their credit, they do not seemingly advocate the demise of those technologies.
Another positive aspect is the singer is a public figure and is an adult. That does not make any of the recency appropriate or excusable. It is absolutely not. But, it is somewhat tragic that it takes an attack like this on a public figure to perhaps sufficiently raise consciousness. I am suggesting that while the singer is a victim, she is a fortunate soul in several ways. That does not mean the attack is less despicable, but it has meaning. Read on.
NPR notes that "90-95% of deepfake videos are now nonconsensual pornographic videos and, of those videos, 90% target women—mostly underage." I am not sure what "mostly" means. That could mean more than half, way more than half, or even "almost all." The point of the statement, however, is that deepfakes are predominantly an affront to one particular group. This singer's victimhood publicizes and emphasizes that despicable fact.
Anyone remember AI is a Tool (October 2023)? Yes, I have been on this topic before. That post is about young people in Spain and their suffering at the hands of AI. Children are being victimized by AI? No, children are being victimized by miscreants. The world has a great many miscreants and malcontents. The Internet and AI did not create them, but it merely facilitates them.
The singer is fortunate. That is not a statement that will resonate with people. But she is a billionaire with a real (not Internet) social circle (actual, in-person, friends and family). She is an adult with some measure of experience and maturity. She is, in those regards, far better equipped to deal with the emotional onslaught that such a miscreant attack portends. There is no excusing or explaining the miscreants, but in great measure the singer is fortunate.
What of the less prepared? What of the immature? What of the youth who are utterly unprepared for the assault and damage such deepfakes might portend? Cyberbullying is a threat to adolescents, according to the National Institute of Health (NIH). The Wiki bunch asserts that many suicides are attributable to bullying (I have minimal editorial Wiki-faith, but it is worth considering). The Suicide prevention folks are convinced cyberbullying is an issue. What of the non-billionaire, immature, isolated, and more fragile members of society?
The New York Times reports that the deepfake images of the singer "swamp(ed) social media" last week. The full might of whatever efforts or protections exist in the software and personnel there were overwhelmed. Images propagated and spread. Millions viewed these deepfakes of the singer, according to the Associated Press (AP).
But, the AP also noted evidence of the singer's good fortune. You see, this singer has a fan base both broad and deep (I am not personally a huge fan, but seriously, if you are reading this and know for sure "where (she) was on April 29th," drop me a line. It has been killing me not knowing). High Infidelity, 2022. The AP notes the singer has fans who were "quick to mobilize in support."
She is blessed that literally thousands of social media users launched a counter-campaign against the deepfakes. They had no orders, but merely "rode to the sound of the guns" (source unknown). While the social media companies strove to catch up to and delete the fakes, the loyal fans flooded social media with praise and support for their idol. They posted real pictures, adopted various hashtags, and revolted against the miscreants. Fortunate. Fortuitous. Admirable.
When you are assailed and affronted, how comforting it must be to know people have your back. How much more so that there are an army with such devotion to you. Are young people today aware there is an army at their back? How often do we collectively say it or demonstrate our devotion to the next generation? Do they know we would back them and not the miscreants?
ABC News and others reported that "the White House" is "alarmed by the reports of the…circulation of images . . . of false images to be more exact, and it is alarming." The singer has brought an unprecedented profile to this trend that has even awakened the White House. Well, perhaps. A sound bite is a sound bite, but will there be action? Politicians tout the "task force" on "online harrassment." But that is almost a year old, where are its plans, results, and progress? What has the task force accomplished in the first 12 months? Where is the progress?
The responses to this latest deepfake instance with the singer might sound a bit like Louis, "I'm shocked, shocked, to find that gambling (harrassment) is going on in here." Casablanca, Warner Brothers 1942. Where is the action, the arrests, the prosecutions?
What of the less fortunate? What of the victims who are not billionaires? What of those who cannot afford good lawyers to file claims and seek redress? What of those who do not have cadres of devoted followers who can leap into action to flood the social media platforms to drown out the miscreants? What of those to afraid to speak up, confide in an adult, and accept that being bullied is never the victim's fault? This bullying is a general concern, but we must emphasize the impact on youth.
No, this singer's story is not about AI. It is not about social media. It is not about computers, software, or a host of other tools that are increasingly at people's fingertips. This story is about harassment, bullying, and the miscreants and criminals who engage in it. Today is a product of yesterday. A yesterday during which the sentimentalists and apologists in our society found great offense in the punishment of wrongdoers. The huggers and forgivers of yesterday convinced people that punishing the wrongdoer was misdirected. They were sadly mistaken.
For the last 50 years or more, there has been an ongoing tendency to hate the crime and hug the criminal. Well, the criminal is the one creating these deepfakes, not AI. The criminal is the one distributing these images, not social media. The assault on our sensibilities, youth, and selves is being afforded by miscreants who are misusing and misapplying tools. The answer to that is not constraining or eliminating the tools, it is punishing the criminal. We need not hate the criminal, but the punishment must deter the behavior.
No, NTSB, the solution to auto accidents involving speed is not to legislate and regulate how fast the tool (a car) can go. Yes, people are going to drive too fast, like the miscreant last week in Orlando. First, he likely should not have had "dad's Camaro." Second, perhaps parents could be held responsible? Like the Michigan miscreant situation recently in the news? Perhaps if we punish more consistently and directly, we might see less of the poor behavior?
No, the solution is not more anti-bullying, anti-harassment, anti-miscreant laws. We should all be chagrinned that harassing school children last year was not a universal and deafening call to arms. AI is a Tool (October 2023). The examples have been in the news. We should be embarrassed that Tom Hank's experience did not spur action, nor the bad experiences of a myriad of others.
No, it took the singer. The headlines are finally large. It took an entrepreneur billionaire. You see it could happen to anyone, but now it happened to royalty. The attention is drawn. She can obviously defend herself and has a raft of supporters for that effort. But, this assault will perhaps bring change because it involves royalty. She will perhaps drive a campaign of outrage and recompense that changes our course.
That is what is needed for our unsuspecting, underage, futures. Yes, those people headed to school each morning may look like "students," but in reality, they are "futures." Yours and mine. They deserve a fair, viable, safe chance to learn, grow, and succeed. They are being pursued, cornered, and bullied. The miscreants are gaining tools and efficiency, and basking in the shadows.
What if those "futures" don't thrive and succeed? Shame on us. Time to quit "harumphing" and do something meaningful. It is not time for task forces, meetings, and hyperbole. Time for action. Perhaps we start by finding the particular miscreant(s) responsible for the singer's assault/harassment and make their prosecution a shining and memorable learning opportunity for all?
