A few years ago, I discovered something called “Deepfakes“: the digital alteration of one person’s face in order to make them look like someone else. It reminds me of CGI, which is now used in most visual art forms, especially film. This type of technology can be used – and is used – in all forms of media, so that we cannot even be sure that what we see in the news is for real, or some fake story created by technology.
Of course, the faking of stories in the media – especially the news – was taking place long before these mechanisms existed thanks to movie making tricks. (If you would like to know more about this phenomenon, I recommend watching the movie, Wag the Dog.) The purpose of such fakery is to keep the masses distracted, confused, fearful, etc., so that they are easier to control. Also, it works to bury truthful stories, or information for those who have everything to lose when said truth sees the light of day.
The use of dopplegangers (look alikes, body doubles) has long been used in film making but it may also be utilized in other situations. This method was, and is, employed to protect VIPs during public appearances, and so on. It may also be used to implicate someone’s involvement in a crime that they did not commit (AKA ‘framing‘).
So, do we really know what, or who, we are seeing in media images, footage, or in-person, in the case of dopplegangers?
Then we have audio recordings which may also be edited in a way to make it sound like someone is saying something that they are not actually saying… So, the potential for misuse of any of this technology is huge: it seems as if those behind all of this stuff want us to start using these things to spy on eachother…
Cell Phones As Spy Cameras.
I have recently discovered that cell/mobile phones can be used as spy cameras (learn more here). This makes me wonder about those newfangled phones with the multiple lenses… Apparently, their software also allows for the manipulation of imagery in a way that was once only available to professional media folk. What could someone who had it in for another individual(s), do with these tools at their disposal? Such actions violate all kinds of laws so the ones perpetrating them need to be very, very careful…
Over the last few months, I have learned that I need to do my own research about such things so that I do not trust everything that I see, or hear, in any form of media. At the end of the day, I have my instincts to guide me: if something feels off about an image, footage, or anything else, I can dismiss it as fraudulent from the get-go. And then, I can move on with my life because I have more important things to do…
Helen
