OK, the concepts of truth and reality were already on shaky grounds. And new technology has complicated our ability to figure out the truth. Photoshop and other programs make it possible to create faked images that can not be distinguished from real ones. (There are ways to detect photoshop manipulation, which ought to be taught in school, as part of the long term teaching of critical thinking skills.)
And now, just as phone cams and Youtube have made everyone into a potential reporter, my friend Jeremy has alerted me to a disturbing technology that makes it possible to change the facial expressions of a person on video so that you could change what they look like they are saying.
Watch this video and then take up the challenge of finding new ways to overcome deception in the 21st Century.
Some might argue that this technology seems unnecessary, since so many people bought Trump's message without his having to use anything like this. But it also means that those who think the Trump supporters were gullible, will have to recalibrate their own ability to detect bullshit.
Monday, December 19, 2016
4 comments:
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Yeah, saw Jeremy's post earlier and took time to look at this technology. Our problem is that any one of us can have this done to us given so much of our lives are recorded and are retrievable. If you have posted video, so much the better, but phone calls are a start.
ReplyDeleteThere are many good uses to this technology in the creative industries, which I suspect is why it was developed in the first place. Unfortunately, it can be readily used in ways that are not good at all.
So much to be alert to and we're not doing well with what's with us already.
The creamy voice of the woman describing their product belies the hideous evil of it, or so they hope, or do they not see to what ends this "trick" could be used? ...But he said that, or that. I SAW him! Can the deception be detected, like voice splicing or photoshoping?
ReplyDeleteUpdate. The latest Star Wars film 'employs' CGI technology to generate several critical roles, one that of an actor long dead. There is worry this will permit studios to wave off live-set hiring. After all, it's so much easier to work with an actor who is generated.
ReplyDeleteOf course. the technology you're looking at is about manipulating an existing face rather than creation of a face as it would be in the examples above. Still, it's the same process and the results are reality replaced by the synthetic. Our choice is to be rendered totally or partially. It seems to come down to the same problem: an original need not be in the room.
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