The more AI advances, the less I think I want to have to do with it.<\/p>\n
It's really disturbing, sometimes even upsetting, that it has gotten so good at generating images and videos of people, that it is being used to try to influence elections and foment conflict.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, it still has its foibles. Recently, the legendary Canadian rock trio Rush announced that after 11 years, they would do a limited reunion tour with drummer Anika Nilles filling in for the late Neil Peart. <\/p>\n
There were no legit pictures of the remaining members Geddy Lee (bass) and Alex Lifeson (guitar) with Anika, so of course deepfakes started popping up.<\/p>\n
As a bass player, I almost instantly recognized one of them as AI-generated because Geddy's bass had four strings, but only three tuning pegs (it was also labelled a Fender JZT Bass, of which there is no such thing).<\/p>\n
AI still has problems with human hands as well. <\/p>\n
The latest thing that has been popping up, though, is just downright creepy. I've been seeing a lot of ads recently for a service called AliveMoment.<\/p>\n
With this service, you can take an old photograph and turn it into an animated video. Of course, what better way to turn new technology into a business than to pull on our heartstrings?<\/p>\n
Imagine seeing your dead grandmother dance again?<\/p>\n
Um, no, thank you very much, I'll pass.<\/p>\n
The examples they show look very realistic. Tempting.<\/p>\n
And the testimonials, of course, speak of profoundly emotionally rewarding experiences that "bring your memories to life" (the company's tag line).<\/p>\n
But it's not bringing your memories to life, is it? It is a trick that is as far from life as it can be.<\/p>\n
Still, I kind of felt like if I was going to write about it, I should try it out at least once. After all, just because it looks realistic with strangers, doesn't mean it's going to work with people you actually know (or knew).<\/p>\n
So I clicked on the "try it" button. Of course, they let you go through most of the process, then deny you the result unless you give up your personal information or pay.<\/p>\n
Again, no thanks.<\/p>\n
I will leave my memories as memories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thom comments on what he finds a disturbing offshoot of deepfake imagery<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":158237,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-158230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columnists","category-opinion"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n