Creativity Squared: On Ending A.I. Deepfakes

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Dear Creativity Squared Member,

As someone who’s on the internet and part of the Creativity Squared community, it would have been hard not to hear about the horrific Taylor Swift deepfakes that went viral on Twitter two weeks ago. With the Super Bowl this Sunday followed by Valentine’s Day next week, we shifted our podcast schedule around to discuss deepfakes. I was extremely honored that Cindy Gallop, one of the fiercest women I know, made an exception on her birthday to be interviewed and discuss her solution to ending A.I. deepfakes for everyone on the internet, not just celebrities.

What’s her solution? Listen to Episode 35 now to find out. 

Named “The Most Provocative Woman in the World,” Cindy Gallop is the Founder & CEO of MakeLoveNotPorn, the world's first and only user-generated, human-curated social sex video-sharing platform.

Spoiler alert: Her solution isn’t a regulatory one.

There are a few key points about deepfakes that I want to point out:

• Deepfakes are a women’s rights issue. 96% of all deepfakes disproportionately target women.

• Online sexual abuse is abuse with real-world harms, ranging from mental illness to suicide, from job loss to social isolation, physical assault to body dysmorphia, and many other harms.

• Do not watch A.I.-created porn or A.I. deepfake porn. Assume it’s done without consent given the current landscape.

That said, can we use A.I. to reimagine the future of porn with positive experiences through the female lens? Absolutely. 

What can a safe internet for all look like? 

Discover Cindy’s answer to this question in Episode 35, and how to address the exponential growth in nonconsensual deepfakes and revenge porn.

You’ll also hear about her unique 100% human-curation model designed to create safe online community spaces. Cindy doesn’t mince her words regarding the people who are building our A.I. tools, and how critical it is to fund female founders.

She also discusses the link between creativity and sexual expression and how the two can increase productivity, maybe even more so than artificial intelligence. 💖

Listen to Episode 35 today!

There’s not one silver bullet to heal and move forward from something like deepfakes that’s embedded into our culture, one in which “rape culture” currently exists. In addition to Cindy’s solution, I’m also pro-regulation to help address the rampant deepfakes that are exploding due to how easy they are to make with the acceleration and adoption of A.I. technology. As a response to what happened to Taylor Swift, US senators proposed the Defiance Act to help deepfake image abuse victims seek justice, but it’s not enough as Henry Ajder points out in this LinkedIn post.

We also have some other resources from Creativity Squared on the subject worth checking out:

• Ep31. Maya Daver-Massion: A.I. & Safe Online Spaces

• “Another Body” & the Disturbing Rise of Deepfakes

• Truth in the Balance: The Critical Role of Media Literacy Education in the Age of Algorithms & GenAI

• Authenticity and Defending Human Rights: Getting It Right

  by Sam Gregory, WITNESS

Switching gears, I wanted to highlight a play that Edward Gibbons-Brown, who’s a longtime Creativity Squared and Sociality Squared team member, wrote and directed: Walk It Off. We’re all so proud of Edward and encourage you to check it out in person in NYC on February 20, February 25, and February 29 or streaming online on February 25.

As part of Creativity Squared’s mission to support artists, we’re excited to bring you an insider sneak peek on our blog…not to mention a special discount code (“WALK”) for 20% off of your ticket purchase!

If you’re in NYC and curious about getting cloned, reply to this email and let me know! I’m co-hosting another A.I. Avatars & Aperitifs on Thursday, February 15 from 5-8pm at the Chief Clubhouse in the Flatiron. It’s a great opportunity to meet up and learn more about the exciting future of online communication with ethically created A.I. digital avatars.

Also, for our Premium members, in addition to receiving each episode NFT, I’m also including one A.I. art piece I’ve made! Subscribe to unlock the full-size version and iterate on if you’d like. This one is titled “A.I. Jungle Fever”:

If you’re in the Cincinnati area, please vote for Studio Kroner, Michael Coppage, and ArtsWave in this CityBeat poll and support some of the Creativity Squared local community.

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• 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨 Featured Blog Post: Valentine's Day and the Rise of Loneliness and A.I. Girlfriends

• 📆 Calendar of Events: A.I. Conference Radar + Cincy A.I. Events

• 🤯 A.I. + Creativity News Roundup

• 🎧 More on Episode 35

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• ❤️‍🔥 Premium Members: Episode NFT

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Enjoy the Super Bowl, and have a wonderful Valentine’s Day.

Here's to exponential possibilities!

Helen

Helen Todd (she/her)
Human behind Creativity Squared
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How creatives are collaborating with A.I.

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📆 A.I. CONFERENCE RADAR

🤠 MARCH 8-15 SXSW — I’ll be back in Austin for SXSW in March for its Interactive Conference which starts on March 8, and will be staying for their A.I. track which is March 11-15. Let me know if you’ll be there — would love to say hi IRL! If you missed the episode with Hugh Forrest, SXSW Co-President & Chief Programming Officer, check it out here!

😎 APRIL 5-9: Texas Eclipse Festival — If you’re looking for A.I. events to attend next year, do add the Texas Eclipse Festival to your list! On April 8, 2024, there will be a total solar eclipse. The festival, taking place April 5-9 at Reveille Ranch in Burnet, TX (outside of Austin), will bring people together from all over the world to celebrate the 4 minutes of totality amidst music, immersive art, tech talks, wellness activations, and so much more.

I can’t wait to be on stage there to talk all things A.I., avatars, and synthetic media alongside so many talented people and artists, including Alex & Allyson Grey, Android Jones, and Chris Dyer.

📆 CALENDAR OF A.I. EVENTS: CINCY

For those local in Cincinnati, join these upcoming A.I. events. 🥳 

🤝 MARCH 5 CincyAI Meetup - Join me and others interested in all things A.I. at the CincyAI Meetup for Humans, cohosted by Creativity Squared, on Tuesday, March 5, at the UC Digital Futures building from 3-5pm ET. Sign up now!

Looking forward to meeting those who can make it in person and geeking out about all things A.I. and creativity!

Listen to the news from my ethically created A.I. clone, Helen 2.ODD!

With all of the A.I. updates flooding our feeds and screens, we’ve got you covered with the latest news at the intersection of A.I. and creativity.

If Taylor Swift Can’t Defeat Deepfake Porn, No One Can WIRED — Taylor Swift has a history with her fans of taking on big social issues and winning. The sexual deepfakes of her that circulated last month could be the spark that ignites action against the growing cancer of nonconsensual deepfakes online. 

Google joins effort to increase transparency online with new digital standard ABC News — Google is joining the movement among tech companies to distinguish GenAI content from original content online.  The company announced that it plans to adopt (and help steer) the C2PA content authentication standard already used by OpenAI and Adobe. Details on implementation were not available, but the announcement from the search and advertising behemoth marks a big step toward mitigating the current and future harms of malicious deepfakes. 

Labeling AI-Generated Images on Facebook, Instagram and Threads Meta — Meta rolls out its home-grown deepfake detection program, acknowledging the growing “adversarial” space. Images generated by Meta tools will have metadata signalling their origin while the company works to integrate signals from other GenAI tools. Labels are not available for audio or video yet. 

Finance worker pays out $25 million after video call with deepfake ‘chief financial officer’ CNN — Scammers impersonated multiple executives of a multinational Hong Kong-based firm on a fake video call to trick the employee into transferring the money. Police say similar scams have been booming lately and have led to arrests. The employee and company that lost $25 million were not identified. 

Conservative influencers are using AI to cover up photos of sex workers NBC News — Women’s sexuality is under attack from A.I. tools at both ends. First through explicit deepfakes exploiting sexuality, and now through repressive deepfakes which police women’s sexuality by generating modest clothing onto pictures of women who’ve consented to show their skin. Women’s rights advocates say both sides of the same coin seek to control women’s sexual autonomy. 

AI unlocks ancient text owned by Caesar's family BBC — Three students win $700,000 after successfully deciphering damaged 2,000-year-old scrolls recovered from an ancient volcano-damaged villa. Researchers hope that the A.I. methodology used to scan and read the burnt papyrus will yield a “revolution” in classical Greco-Roman studies. There are another 800 scrolls from the same villa still left to decipher. 

News Corp in ‘advanced negotiations’ with AI companies over access to content, CEO says The Guardian — Rupert Murdoch’s vast infotainment empire is closer to a deal to license content to A.I. companies, choosing dealmaking over litigation in hopes the arrangement will set a precedent. The Associated Press recently struck a similar deal to license part of its archive, while the New York Times is choosing litigation to reach a compensation agreement. 

OpenAI Shifts AI Battleground to Software That Operates Devices, Automates Tasks The Information — OpenAI is moving its target to autonomous agents that can perform mouse clicks, manipulate data, and carry out complex tasks across multiple apps on a device and in the cloud. Autonomous assistants are the next step in unlocking the productivity potential of A.I., eliminating the tedious clicking around that defines so many workflows.

Listen: E35. The Solution to End A.I. Deepfakes
Founder of MakeLoveNotPorn Cindy Gallop on Taylor Swift Deepfakes and How to Make the Internet Safe for All

Apple | Spotify | YouTube | Pandora | Amazon | Google | SoundCloud | iHeart Radio

Named “The Most Provocative Woman in the World,” Cindy Gallop is one of the fiercest women I know. She’s the Founder & CEO of MakeLoveNotPorn, the world's first and only user-generated, human-curated social sex video-sharing platform. She’s the face of ‘the Social Sex Revolution’ with the mission to end rape culture by socializing and normalizing sex and promoting good sexual values and behavior.

With over 30 years in the advertising industry, Cindy is an outspoken advocate of diversity and inclusion in advertising, tech, and business. She consults with brands on radical, breakthrough, innovative, and transformative ways to change the game in their industries.

Given the seat that Cindy sits in, she joined Creativity Squared for Episode 35 to weigh in on the solution to non-consensual, online abuse highlighted by the horrific Taylor Swift deepfakes that recently went viral on Twitter before being taken down.

Spoiler alert: Her solution doesn’t have anything to do with regulation.

What happened to Taylor Swift is a women’s rights issue. 96% of deepfakes disproportionately target women and the number of them being created is exploding with the acceleration of AI. Assume for now that any AI-created porn is done without consent and avoid it. Online harms are abuse and should be treated as such.

That said, can we use AI to reimagine the future of porn with positive experiences through the female lens? Absolutely.

What can a safe internet for all look like?

Discover Cindy’s answer to this question and how to address the exponential growth in nonconsensual deepfakes and revenge porn. You’ll also hear about her unique 100% human-curation model designed to create safe online community spaces. Cindy doesn’t mince her words when it comes to the people who are building our A.I. tools, and how critical it is to fund female founders.

She also discusses the link between creativity and sexual expression, and how the two can increase productivity, maybe even more so than artificial intelligence.

Listen to the full conversation today!

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Digitally Clone Yourself: The Avatar Experience Cincinnati

👯‍♀️ Ready to be digitally cloned? Get your own custom synthetic avatar! Creativity Squared is collaborating with our partner and sponsor, Render, to bring The Avatar Experience to Cincinnati, OH, by appointment that fits into your schedule. Digitally clone yourself to unlock streamlined and dynamic video content — Apply to be cloned today!

There are less than a thousand known hyper-realistic custom synthetic avatars in existence, so participants will be at the forefront of this groundbreaking A.I. technology. Custom synthetic avatars are part of a massive and growing digital avatar market and is projected to be $270B by 2030.

Custom synthetic avatars can be used for creating:

• Dynamic online course instruction

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• Turnkey social media and email marketing video content

• Engaging customer service messaging

• And more!

👯‍♀️ In case you missed the announcement, I’ve digitally cloned myself! Learn all about mine in episode E14. Not Deepfaked! I Cloned Myself. You’ll meet Helen 2.ODD, my digital double, and discover why and how I made my A.I.-created custom synthetic avatar.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Thank You to Render

Creativity Squared is supported by Render which provides Digital Likeness solutions for personal brand businesses, thought leaders, influencers, and business leaders who want to leverage their synthetic, A.I.-powered Likeness to communicate more effectively online and create audio and video content from anywhere without going on camera. Learn more by visiting: https://rendermedia.ai.

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