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Deepfakes
What happens when we can no longer believe what we see? Show the AI technologies that create deepfakes enough images of a celebrity or a politician and they will generate a convincing video in which that person appears to say and do things they have never actually said or done. The result is a media environment in which anyone’s face and image can be remixed and manipulated.
Graham Meikle explains how deepfakes (synthetic media) are made and used. From celebrity porn and political satire to movie mash-ups and disinformation campaigns, this book explores themes of trust and consent as face-swapping software becomes more common. Meikle argues that deepfake videos allow for a new perspective on the taken-for-granted nature of contemporary media, in which our capacity to remix and share content increasingly conflicts with our capacity to trust. The book analyses how such videos deepen the social media environment in which the public and the personal converge, and in which all human experience becomes data to be shared.
Timely, clear, and accessibly written, this is an essential text for students and scholars of media, communication, cultural studies, and sociology as well as general readers.
Graham Meikle explains how deepfakes (synthetic media) are made and used. From celebrity porn and political satire to movie mash-ups and disinformation campaigns, this book explores themes of trust and consent as face-swapping software becomes more common. Meikle argues that deepfake videos allow for a new perspective on the taken-for-granted nature of contemporary media, in which our capacity to remix and share content increasingly conflicts with our capacity to trust. The book analyses how such videos deepen the social media environment in which the public and the personal converge, and in which all human experience becomes data to be shared.
Timely, clear, and accessibly written, this is an essential text for students and scholars of media, communication, cultural studies, and sociology as well as general readers.
190 pages, Paperback
First published December 12, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 30, 2022
If you know what deepfakes are and the surrounding media conversation, this book will offer very little for you except a possible academic reference for connecting deepfakes to specific theories and events that you were likely aware of before you read the book. If you don't know much, this book will quickly catch you up to speed on most of the big media events and current media lenses that deepfake technologies are in conversation with.
In total this book is not really a thorough investigation. It addresses the high points of the discussion, tells us about the main actors, the technologies, and some potential theoretical positions within media and communication. It does not offer more in-depth accounts of what it does other than "breakdown of trust" in visual media through remix technologies for example.
It does correctly position deepfakes within the genre of "synthetic media". However in doing so, it could have connected this to so many other well developed conversations in media studies, but it doesn't. Also importantly this book claims to be the first book connect deepfakes to social science and humanities consideration, however this most certainly isn't true. There are others out there that have been for a year or more.
In total much more could have been done. This reads more like a crash course which was in a rush to the publisher to be the first to make a few new connections. While it does that, it doesn't answer many questions. It merely introduces the conversation in abstract.
In total this book is not really a thorough investigation. It addresses the high points of the discussion, tells us about the main actors, the technologies, and some potential theoretical positions within media and communication. It does not offer more in-depth accounts of what it does other than "breakdown of trust" in visual media through remix technologies for example.
It does correctly position deepfakes within the genre of "synthetic media". However in doing so, it could have connected this to so many other well developed conversations in media studies, but it doesn't. Also importantly this book claims to be the first book connect deepfakes to social science and humanities consideration, however this most certainly isn't true. There are others out there that have been for a year or more.
In total much more could have been done. This reads more like a crash course which was in a rush to the publisher to be the first to make a few new connections. While it does that, it doesn't answer many questions. It merely introduces the conversation in abstract.
October 22, 2023
This book presents a deep academic examination of the issue of deepfakes in modern society. These are digital images created by artificial intelligence, often supplemented by replication of an individual's voice, to present a person or event with the intent of deceiving or entertaining the viewer.
Much of the discussion focuses on the use of the technology in producing pornography. The author, Graham Meikle also makes the case that the technology can be used in producing various forms of art, utilizing the remixing of images and changed contexts. Some of the examples presented the reanimation of Salvador Dali, Richard Nixon, and John F. Kennedy making speeches that they never gave in real life. The Nixon example shows him delivering a speech that was actually written, but never given, "In Event of Moon Disaster." It was keyed to the first lunar landing in the event of a mission failure on the Moon. Directions for viewing this and several other interesting examples are included in the bibliography.
Meikle discusses the use of such imagery as of potential danger in swaying public opinion in political campaigns or breaking news stories around the globe. A hidden danger is the cynicism that may occur just because people know such realistic looking fake material can be produced, and thus doubting what they see that may actually be true.
Meikle also explores the continuing arms race between the technology to produce deepfakes and technology that can identify such spoofs. In the meantime, watcher beware.
Much of the discussion focuses on the use of the technology in producing pornography. The author, Graham Meikle also makes the case that the technology can be used in producing various forms of art, utilizing the remixing of images and changed contexts. Some of the examples presented the reanimation of Salvador Dali, Richard Nixon, and John F. Kennedy making speeches that they never gave in real life. The Nixon example shows him delivering a speech that was actually written, but never given, "In Event of Moon Disaster." It was keyed to the first lunar landing in the event of a mission failure on the Moon. Directions for viewing this and several other interesting examples are included in the bibliography.
Meikle discusses the use of such imagery as of potential danger in swaying public opinion in political campaigns or breaking news stories around the globe. A hidden danger is the cynicism that may occur just because people know such realistic looking fake material can be produced, and thus doubting what they see that may actually be true.
Meikle also explores the continuing arms race between the technology to produce deepfakes and technology that can identify such spoofs. In the meantime, watcher beware.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews