In 2023, more deepfake abuse videos were shared than in every other year in history combined, according to an analysis by independent researcher Genevieve Oh. What used to take skillful, tech-savvy experts hours to Photoshop can now be whipped up at a moment’s notice with the help of an app. Some deepfake websites even offer tutorials on how to create AI pornography.
What happens if we don’t get this under control? It will further blur the lines between what’s real and what’s not — as politics become more and more polarized. What will happen when voters can’t separate truth from lies? And what are the stakes? As we get closer to the presidential election, democracy itself could be at risk. And, as Ocasio-Cortez points out in our conversation, it’s about much more than imaginary images.
“It’s so important to me that people understand that this is not just a form of interpersonal violence, it’s not just about the harm that’s done to the victim,” she says about nonconsensual deepfake porn. She puts down her spoon and leans forward. “Because this technology threatens to do it at scale — this is about class subjugation. It’s a subjugation of entire people. And then when you do intersect that with abortion, when you do intersect that with debates over bodily autonomy, when you are able to actively subjugate all women in society on a scale of millions, at once digitally, it’s a direct connection [with] taking their rights away.”
You have never owned your reputation.
And - while you sort of own your body - you have never owned depictions of your property (that someone else made with their labor).
If you are wondering what I mean by “sort of owning your body”: You are not allowed to sell it whole or in parts (ie organs). If you try to destroy or damage it, most governments will interfere. In fact, governments provide assistance to maintain that particular piece of property.
This ownership-centric view is simply dystopian.
What you can do is sue for copyright infringement (e.g. if they use IP you own in their model, like pictures from a blog) or defamation (false accusations).
But you’re right, you don’t own your likeness. I can go take a picture of anyone I want and sell it without any issues, provided they’re “in public” at the time. If I take enough to train an AI model, yeah, I could use it to make new images. But if I use those images to claim something untrue that’s also damaging, they can sue me.
I wish we had more ownership of our bodies though. Suicide should be a right (and doctor assisted suicide should be legal), consensual prostitution should be legal, etc. I’m less interested in selling organs though, just due to the completely coercive nature of it.
Do you think this ownership view might be connected to the state of health care in the US? Me, I would balk at being asked to pay to maintain someone’s else’s property. If they can’t afford it, they should sell it. That’s not the attitude I have toward the human body, though.
No, the healthcare issues are complex and involve a lot of corruption and inertia, not beliefs around body ownership. In fact, I’d argue it’s quite the opposite, Americans in general aren’t in favor of bodily ownership, so things like doctor assisted suicide are generally restricted or outright banned. There is a lot of pearl clutching though.
My personal perspective is that as long as there’s proper consent, individuals can do what they want with their bodies. But my barrier for “proper consent” is pretty high. Something like prostitution is pretty straightforward with minimal surprises, but selling organs requires pretty in depth knowledge about long term consequences of the surgery and loss of the organ. However, both have a high risk of coercion, so there needs to be rules in place.
But the pearl clutchers just say no to anything that sounds distasteful.
Just because you own something does not mean there are no rules. I can own property that doesn’t mean I get to light it in fire, or dump chemicals on it that cause an environmental nightmare, or kill a protected animal, or fish a river flowing through it without a license, or run a meth lab on it…
You own your body and image. 5th amendment. Not having absolute unlimited power over both doesn’t change who the owner is. Frankly this type of black and white thinking is lolitarian logic.