New Insane Reality Show Uses Deepfakes Of Partners Cheating On Spouses
The newest Netflix series a deepfake reality show, Falso Amor, which will show AI videos of partners cheating.
Sometimes it feels like the world is a train headed for a cliff; everyone sees the cliff, and plenty have warned that the bridge is out, yet the train barrels its passengers forward. You know the feeling? If not, here is an example from The Byte which breaks down Falso Amor, a new Netflix reality show that forces people to watch a video of their partners cheating and guess whether it is real or a deepfake.
Originating from Spain, Falso Amor is quickly being labeled the most cruel and unethical reality show on TV. As many are already wary of the rising presence and capabilities of artificial intelligence, the technology’s use in Falso Amor feels especially tone-deaf.
Players must decide whether a video of their partner cheating was real or created using AI technology
The series recruits devoted couples and splits them up, sending a member of each couple to live in one of two houses. They also cohabitate with a handful of singles, as any good reality show would have them do. Each member of the couple is then brought to a room to watch a video of their partner cheating on them.
They must then decide whether or not they believe the video was real or created using AI technology. The couple that guesses correctly the most wins a prize of 100,000 euros.
The premise of this reality show has clear red flags. One of the biggest issues: the contestants were reportedly unaware that their likeness would be used in a deepfake. If your ethical sirens are blaring, you are not alone.
One major concern about AI, and deepfakes in particular, is that a person’s likeness can be used to create videos without permission. This could be innocuous, or it could put someone’s face into pornography without consent. The new reality show from Netflix feels dangerously akin to the latter.
How scarring are these images, even if they are fake? The technology is so new that very little research has been conducted to explain its psychological effects
Many of the concerns people are raising online have to do with the mental health of the people involved. How scarring are these images, even if they are fake? The technology is so new that very little research has been conducted to explain its psychological effects.
One can’t help but think of Dr. Ian Malcolm from Jurassic Park. New and amazing technology is immediately being put to use to sell a reality show before anyone can rightly say what humanity really has on its hands.
With a reality show boom expected in the wake of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA writers and actors strikes, Falso Amor may not be the only AI-driven content streamers put forth. Ironically, AI is a core issue for both striking guilds who are fighting to prevent film and television studios from doing what has been done in Falso Amor with their own likenesses.
By this time, audiences are used to a reality show feeling a little icky. That is often the appeal for unabashed fans of so-called “trash TV.” Falso Amor takes that feeling to another level by exploiting technology in exactly the way many people are afraid of. The show may be built on a gimmick, but it is a gimmick with broader implications that make Falso Amor feel more like a horror series than a reality show.
There are a lot of doomsayers when it comes to AI. Deepfakes are not T-800s, but this new reality show speaks to how reckless some people can be with powerful tools they do not fully understand. That pattern of behavior may be even more frightening than AI itself.
