EOTO 2 Reaction Post

Deepfakes

There have been many very public Deepfakes online recently, such as the photo that Donald Trump shared of Taylor Swift endorsing him. She came out later and said it wasn't actually her. Deepfakes are AI-manipulated digital media that are nearly indistinguishable from reality, with three main categories: face-swap, lip-sync, and puppet-master.

Face-swap deepfakes can be used positively in entertainment, such as recreating the late Carrie Fisher's character in Rogue One as talked about in the presentation . Puppet-master technology has been employed for advocacy, like the gun safety campaign featuring Joaquin Oliver, a Parkland shooting victim, making his message resonate beyond his life. Lip-sync deepfakes have helped recreate voices, as seen with Val Kilmer, who regained the ability to speak through synthesized voice technology.

However, there are significant concerns. Face-swapping can facilitate unethical marketing, as demonstrated by fake LinkedIn profiles created using synthetic images. Deepfake technology poses risks for disinformation, especially during elections, where altered videos can spread false claims about candidates. Lastly, the non-consensual creation of explicit imagery using this technology, particularly targeting female celebrities, is an unethical and harmful practice.

Final Post: My Relationship with Tech

It's been interesting to learn about tech in this class and how existing innovations came about and are being used in our society. It's also been eye-opening to discuss media law, privacy, and First Amendment rights alongside these topics. At the start of the semester, I would have confidently claimed that my relationship with technology was very healthy. 

Being from Florida, watching the 1964-'65 New York World's Fair video of the Futurama ride reminded me of the ride Starship Earth at Disney. It's hard to believe technology has come such a long way in 60 years, and it's also interesting to see predicted innovations and what actually came to be. We have achieved having data in space being beamed back in milliseconds, but no Mars colonies... yet. With new innovations like the computer, internet, mobile phones, and social media have come new challenges my generation has to deal with. Even though I have always had technology, and used it from a young age, it's important to stay on top of the challenges that have risen through the years. Bots may make up 40% of all web traffic and news is increasingly suspect to being unbiased.

This article from University of the People discusses the growing dependency of society on technology and highlights both its benefits and drawbacks. The blog entry includes a checklist "Knowing the Signs: How To Tell if You’re Too Dependent On Technology" that I found helpful to get a pulse on my relationship with it. I found that I don't have trouble sleeping without being able to be on my phone, but I do get a little anxious if I can't connect to wifi. I think it's important to balance time online and my phone with being out in the "real" world, and spending time with people face-to-face. Like the Moby/Tears for Fears video illustrated, the world is becoming too reliant on their phones and ignoring what's happening in the world. 

There’s a clear link between technology dependence and issues like anxiety and depression. This could be because people are more isolated, on their devices all the time, the pressures of social media, the problem of cyberbullying, or the disruptive effects of bright phone screens on sleep, all of which are bad for our mental health. There's also been a shocking increase in suicides in the last 20 years, an increase of over 56 %.

I definitely have found lots of reasons to cut back on my online presence and use less social media. I think as a society, the negative issues will keep piling up until we start being more proactive about putting our devices down and reconnecting with the world.