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"Deepfake technology can create video evidence of just about anything: Hollywood superstar Margot Robbie in an orgy Chinese president, Xi Jinping declaring nuclear war, basketball legend Michael Jordan winning the World Cup. The only limit is the imagination. In a time where fake news and disinformation is becoming harder and harder to identify, it is more essential than ever to understand the dark origins of deepfakes. Journalist Michael Grothaus goes down the rabbit hole as he interviews the often morally dubious, yet incredibly skilled creators of this content. It's a journey that opens a window into the communities transforming reality. Challenging, enlightening and terrifying, Trust No One asks the question other people are too scared to: what happens when you can no longer believe your own eyes?"--Publisher's description.
About the author
Michael Grothaus is a novelist and journalist. Having got his start over 20 years ago writing for Screen, his work has since appeared in Fast Company, VICE, the Guardian, Litro Magazine, The Irish Times, Quartz, and others. His debut novel Epiphany Jones, a story about the alienating aspects of the internet and sex trafficking among the Hollywood elite, was longlisted for the John Creasy New Blood Dagger Award in 2017. Trust No One is his first non-fiction book.
Summary
Deepfake technology can create video evidence of just about anything:
Hollywood superstar Margot Robbie in an orgy.
Chinese president Xi Jinping declaring nuclear war.
Basketball legend Michael Jordan winning the World Cup.
The only limit is the imagination.
In a time where fake news and disinformation is becoming harder and harder to identify, it is more essential than ever to understand the dark origins of deepfakes.
Journalist Michael Grothaus goes down the rabbit hole as he interviews the often morally dubious, yet incredibly skilled creators of this content. It's a journey that opens a window into the communities transforming reality.
Challenging, enlightening and terrifying, Trust No One asks the question other people are too scared to: what happens when you can no longer believe your own eyes?
'An alarming look at deepfakes' Sunday Times
'Michael Grothaus takes a hard look at the growth of deep fakes, examining cases that demonstrate the threats presented by morally dubious creators. From the personal to political, the impact of deep fakes is considered carefully by Grothaus, both on the victims and on society as a whole, creating an essential picture of a growing trend in disinformation' Eliot Higgins, founder of Bellingcat
Foreword
From porn to politics, deepfake tech can create video evidence of anything. Seeing is believing but soon, you won't be able to trust anything you see online
Additional text
Our relationship with visual representations of ourselves always runs along this axis of narcissism and dread: at once promising a defeat of death, but by arousing that desire only to disappoint it, crushingly reinforcing its inevitability. Our fascination with deepfakes strikes me as the latest iteration of this emotional rollercoaster, and it's one Grothaus captures very well.
