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“Could someone raid Lena Palmer’s Instagram account to generate new videos of her?”
“Wicked...” says Tom. “I see... Of course. That would work, but...”
“But?”
“If the video is fake, then it’snext level shit. You know what I mean? It’s perfect. It doesn’t have any of the usual telltales.”
“The usualtelltales?”
“Well, you know. AI errors. You might know them from images. Six fingers and all that.”
“Six fingers?” asks Yasira.
“What’s currently freely available in terms of AI image generation tools usually makes strange mistakes. The software often struggles with our fingers. That’s why people in these images sometimes have six fingers or other strange details. The curvatures of our ears also cause problems for AI. In general, proportions are often not quite right. It’s not immediately noticeable, but if you look closely, it’s odd. In videos there are other typical errors. When one object moves in front of another, there is sometimes a flickering effect. Occasionally, the software also produces paradoxes in three-dimensional space. After all, it has no understanding of this. There may be a face in the car, but the corresponding hand is outside the window or something. Such errors become most apparent when you slow down the playback speed. Or by clicking through the individual frames. That’s the best way to spot the flaws. But there are none of these in the Lena video. No glitches.”
“Is your productnext level shit?” Yasira asks. “Could it generate a video like this?”
“Well...” Tom begins, but unfortunately the business clown intervenes.
“I’m sorry, but we’re entering the area that involves our trade secrets. I’m sure you understand that we can’t discuss the status of our developments in public before they are released.”
Even though the objection came from Ryan, Yasira doesn’t take her eyes off the young CTO. Tom Schiller is obviously uneasy.
“I’m not interested in company secrets,” says Yasira. “A simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ would suffice for me.”
“I need to ask you,” Ryan replies, “to reach out to our lawyer if you require more information...”
Yasira makes one last attempt. “ I understand, of course, that your company wouldn’t want to be publicly associated with the video, but...”
“Please address any further questions to our lawyer.”
Yasira wants to say something, but Michael interrupts her.
“I think you’ve got your answer,” he says. “A ‘no’ wouldn’t have been such a complicated response.”
Ryan gets up, Mandy and Tom Schiller follow his lead.
“In all your business plans, feasibility studies and strategy meetings, have you ever once thought about what you’re actually unleashing?” asks Yasira. “Have you ever asked yourself not only ‘how,’ but ‘should we at all?’ Do you have any idea what it does to the world when images can no longer be trusted?”
“Could images ever be trusted?” Mandy retorts.
“If we don’t develop these tools, someone else will,” Ryan says.
“The toothpaste is out of the tube,” adds Mandy.
Always the same old song, Yasira thinks. “What you’re creating is dangerous in two ways,” she says. “It’s not only that every sensational video could be fake. Soon every genuine video of evidence will also be doubted as fake. Then Trump could, as he once claimed, actually shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue without losing a single voter, simply because he would claim the evidence videos were fake.”
She scrutinizes Tom Schiller. The young man looks down. She looks at Ryan. The business clown stares back. These thoughts can’t be new to him, can they?
“I can assure you,” Ryan finally says, “that we at AlmostReal have nothing to do with this terrible video. Any allegation to that effect will be considered malicious defamation against which we will take legal action.”
On their way out, Yasira discreetly gives her partner a signal. Michael picks up on it and keeps Mandy and Ryan distracted with some blah blah blah.
The distraction allows Yasira to slip Tom Schiller her business card unnoticed. She has a strong suspicion that he was willing to say more and would like to speak to him without his “parents.”
THE STORM
“So?” asks Yasira on the way back. “What do you think?”
