What is a deepfake? Vicky Pattison and Channel 4 face backlash over documentary
What is a deepfake? Vicky Pattison and Channel 4 face backlash over documentary
Share:
The term deepfake has made the headlines again following a documentary directed and produced by Vicky Pattison. She is a British television personality, best known for appearing on reality TV shows such as Geordie Shore and I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! She is also a presenter, author, and podcast host.
![[Space engineer says AI to become ‘real helper’ of humanity in years to come]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2025/01/15/18/90b10b3f0340087d8b3fdf28413e3c39Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM3MDQ5OTMz-2.78695308.jpg?crop=8:5,smart&quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
Pattison wanted to use the new documentary to illustrate how adult content can spread online and how these images and videos are taken down. “Survivor organisations strongly advised against it when they were approached by producers,” she said. “It’s just in really, really poor taste that they sought out advice and then ignored it completely.”.
![[Stormont MLA targeted by deepfake video urges legal clampdown]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2025/01/14/15/bf8812e609b4a2af731bd7a38dea678fY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM2OTU2MDEy-2.78686180.jpg?crop=8:5,smart&quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
While the documentary may be controversial, it has raised important questions about deepfakes and their impact. Deepfakes are often associated with pornography, but they are not limited to adult content or videos. While pornography is one of the most damaging forms of deepfake content, it is not the only harmful application.
So, how do deepfakes work?. A deepfake typically involves digitally altering a person’s face or body to make them appear as someone else. In the case of deepfake audio, a person’s voice is synthesised to create a clip that sounds like they are saying something they never actually did. These manipulations are powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence.
