I don’t think there is any instance or scenario where it would ever make sense for the invention of the deepfake software. No matter how I think about it, all I see are breaches of trust and privacy, impersonation, prison time, and defamation. Because anything that has to stand on such shaky ground will always be questionable in whatever circle it is presented.
This is because the very idea of deepfakes is to pass one person as the other. And I don’t know about you, but that sounds pretty shady, which makes me wonder why there is not a stronger crackdown on things like this. Like, why are people allowed to imitate others this way? What good could possibly come from this?
I’ve heard stories of people getting scammed, using the faces of celebrities. You could be living your life, having a good time, and someone out there will be using your face, through deepfake technology, to scam other people. They’d think they’re giving you their money, not knowing it’s nothing but a dubious scheme that they’ve fallen for. And when it all blows up, they blame the celebrity for it. They’d never do their findings and verify before the act, but once it’s done, that’s when they’d realize that there’s actually a verified handle where they can talk to said celebrity.
It happens. But I think one of the worst cases of deepfakes is when people use it for scandalous reasons. Just to bring shame and humiliation to their targets. Deepfakes are known to be used to form sex tapes, place people in compromising positions, and doctor footage. Anything at all that can be used to shift perspectives from what the truth really is. That is everything the deepfake technology is all about. And this is why I can’t ever see the good it can do.
Back when it started out, one of the defenses I heard about it was the fact that it could be used to help those who were grieving. It could be used to make videos of people and their loved ones, long after they're dead. Children could see recent videos of their dead parents, and parents could do the same for their dead kids. It makes them feel a little bit better, I guess. But I don’t think a fake video or picture, something that they all know is fake, mind you, can ever replace the real thing.
I bet you that if you ask anyone who has ever lost someone if they would rather have their dead loved ones back to life, or watch deepfake videos of them, they’d prefer the former. I just feel that deepfake won’t bring you the closure you need, it will only remind you of your loss and what they missed out on by dying too soon.
And so, I’d never be in support of this. For now, I’m speaking based on what I know of the technology, there might be many things that I do not know, and when I’m privy to that knowledge, I may change my mind. But for now, this is my stance. There’s just no good that can come of it. Simple.
