Deepfake Ethics
AI & Emerging Tech
The responsibilities that come with being able to fabricate a convincing likeness of a real person.
In practice
Deepfake ethics is the set of questions raised when generative models can put words in someone's mouth or their face in a scene they were never in: consent, disclosure, harm, and who is accountable when a fabrication is believed. For designers it is practical, because product decisions — watermarks, provenance, friction — decide how much damage a tool can do.
Questions
What is Deepfake Ethics?
Deepfake ethics concerns the consent, labelling and accountability around synthetic likenesses of real people.
Why do you use Deepfake Ethics?
Because a convincing fake of a real person can destroy a reputation, swing a vote or empty a bank account, and the tools are now ordinary.
How do you use/apply Deepfake Ethics?
Require consent for real likenesses, label what is generated, embed provenance, and make the harmful uses slower than the legitimate ones.
When do you use Deepfake Ethics?
At the point of building any tool that can generate faces, voices or video of people — before it ships, not after the first incident.
Who uses Deepfake Ethics?
Designers and founders of generative tools, and anyone publishing synthetic content of people.
