Re: Deep Fakes, Phishing & Epistemological War - how we can help combat these.

I answer Charles’ and David’s e-mails below.

> On 12 Jun 2019, at 10:58, Charles 'chaals' (McCathie) Nevile <chaals@yandex.ru> wrote:
> 
> On Wed, 12 Jun 2019 08:00:01 +0200, Henry Story <henry.story@bblfish.net> wrote:
> 
> Just yesterday Vice published an article on DeepFakes with two example
> videos 
> […]

This article from CNN contains the video embedded inside a documentary
video on Deep Fakes that gives a lot broader perspective on the problem,
including it’s use in legitimate Hollywood works of fiction

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/11/tech/zuckerberg-deepfake/index.html

> 
> How could one make publishing of deep fake content, and other fictional content or data for that
> matter allowable? We can’t live without fiction after all, it is how we explore possibilities that are not
> actual, if only to be able to avoid them becoming so. [1]
> 
> One suggestion is  that we would need a fiction ontology. Given that
> an HTTP server that served these should it seems 
> 
>   1. have a Link relation that specifies the fictional type of such content
>   2. Only serve the content to clients that recognize and display such information clearly [2]
>      (requiring thus an agent capability ontology)
>   3. Perhaps embed that relation in the video metadata too, along with a link to the original author
>     (which can be verified by an http GET) so that copying the  content does not  remove the 
>     metadata.
> 
> This is exactly what current DRM systems do, except instead of a promise to recognise the content as fictional there is usually evidence that you paid money for it as the out-of-band basis for approval to send the content.

Do DRM systems have fiction ontologies?

I think embedding the metadata inside DRM protected content as well as placing
a link in the HTTP header have their uses and should be complimentary.

For one, the problem of deep fakes is part of a larger space of
disinformation, as made clear in this very entertaining podcast by Brian
Klaas ”Disinformation and Deep Fakes” which starts with a story of how
the UK used disinformation to fool the 3rd Reich into thinking the 
liberation of Sicily was not going to happen.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/power-corrupts/id1458750622?ign-mpt=uo%3D4

It is completely possible to publish disinformation in RDF, just as it is
possible to have RDF data on fictional worlds. In that case adding header
information to specify which fictional world the data belongs to would be
very useful. This would allow one to organize meetings in world of warcraft
spaces with the same hyper-apps used for conventional meetings and make
sure the data does not seep into ordinary meeting data. That is just the
tip of the iceberg here.

> On 12 Jun 2019, at 12:53, David Booth <david@dbooth.org> wrote:
> 
> On 6/12/19 2:00 AM, Henry Story wrote:
>> Just yesterday Vice published an article on DeepFakes with two example
>> videos posted to Instagram:
> > . . .
>> This shows that there can be legitimate reasons to publish such videos: namely to make people
>> aware of their existence.
> 
> Sure, but an obvious watermark on the video itself would have been a more responsible way for them to post it, since photos and videos are easily taken out of context.

The answer I gave above to ‘chaals' applies here too.

  - Both header information (metadata) using an ontology of contexts would
  be useful and complimentary.
  - Deep fake videos are not the only type of disinformation around,
  they can also be propagated via RDF data where DRM does not seem appropriate
  - there are legitimate fictional spaces in which people interact

This answer needs to be part of a system that allows people to identify institutions
of knowledge using open data published by registrars as I describe in a series of 
posts starting ”From Digital Sovereignty to the Web of Nations”

https://medium.com/cybersoton/from-digital-sovereignty-to-the-web-of-nations-61fbc28d79cd

This should be part of a wide ranging project that would finally embed the semantic 
web into everyday browsing experience in a useful way with global support from nation 
states, as well as the support of public and private enterprises that require trust in 
order to function.

Sincerely,

 Henry Story

Received on Wednesday, 12 June 2019 12:16:12 UTC