Is it perhaps the “dark side” of constantly evolving digital representation techniques, which will be controlled by some untouchable “public authorities”? Or is it simply a constituent, structural element of the ability to mass-produce illusions for multiple uses?
Similarly, so-called “deepfakes” have skyrocketed in the capitalist West. Between 2022 and the first quarter of 2023, “deepfake” frauds increased by 1,200% in the US alone. Similar trends are occurring in Canada, Germany, and the UK.
Take for example the well-known blackmail, where some unknown voice calls to say that a known, familiar, relative person has a serious problem (e.g. has been injured in a car accident…) and urgently needs money.
No more unknown voice! It’s easy to create the familiar, known voice, the familiar tone, that says you’ve been kidnapped… And some ransom is needed…
The convincing audio deepfake is not alone. There can also be visual “mimicry”… Sooner or later, some will be able to generate any combination of pixels for any type of content.. said Alan Ikoev, CEO of an advertising company that has celebrity and influencer clients. …And you will be the one trying to figure out what is what…
The alienation of the senses is much closer than ignorants think. The construction, circulation and ultimately the establishment of technologically manufactured illusions with intellectually paralyzing names such as “virtual-reality” or “augmented-reality” is already here. (And it falls to us not simply to try to untangle what is what, but additionally to protect with nails and teeth that which was once called reality without any qualifying adjective…)