2024-11-22 –, Ngaio Marsh Theatre
The advancement of A.I within the last few decades has sparked some concern in the general public such as fears of political impersonation or a robot uprising. However, there has been an ongoing and persistent threat with the use of A.I that is only just making it's way into the mainstream media.
The production of deepfake pornography has been increasing within the last ten years. This technology is used to make non-consensual adult media often targeting women including famous people and non-celebrities. This talk will unpack the history of deepfake porn, explain how the technology developed, evaluate the prevention and mitigation efforts, and discuss what services and legislation are in place in New Zealand to protect people affected by this.
Deepfakes and A.I in general have permeated into the social discourse most notably over the last few years. As with most technological development there is a darker and more illicit history behind the advancements and notoriety surrounding this technology. Whilst chat bots and A.I image generators were entering the mainstream, an established subset of deepfakes has been persisting in popularity on the Internet - that is the use of deepfake technology to produce synthetic pornography.
Deepfake pornography shares a similar history with most modern technologies in that it's advancement stems from a demand for sex on the Internet. However, due to the ease of accessibility and low technical requirement to utilise it, it has become a common vector to target and exploit women on the Internet.
A superficial glance at deepfake pornography in mainstream media highlights the effects on mostly Western celebrity women. This talk will also explore the people who have been exploited by this technology but haven't received the same levels of attention, consideration, and support. The primary aim of this talk is to raise awareness about the negative impacts this technology is having on women and consider how we can do better as an industry.
Elle (not Ellie) is a security consultant based in Wellington who enjoys talking about sex and technology, and how this affects women. Outside of work she enjoys video games and is currently learning about malware analysis.