Talk & Workshop hosted by Disruption Network Lab

Speakers: Katrien Jacobs, Adjunct Associate Professor in Cultural Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, BE & Irma Mastenbroek, Mathematician & AI Researcher, NL/DE

Deepfake technology is a form of Artificial Intelligence that creates video and aural content by synthetically merging recorded faces, facial expressions, and speech patterns onto other videos. The commodification of deepfake technology has led to large quantities of sexualized deepfakes featuring politicians, celebrities or activists. Sex scenes and facial data are stolen and synthesized for pleasure and entertainment, and then repackaged as hate-media intended to impact and silence public figures. In this talk and workshop, we will try to find out to which extent such deepfakes can be seen as an aspect of far-right “fashy” media culture. Since far-right leaders are weaponizing conspiracy theories and “gender phantasms”, including a full denial of gender identities and LGBTQ rights, how can porn movies fortify these claims? As a strictly censored yet resilient media trend, why is deepfake technology being used by anonymous creators to “fornicate” with democracy while eroding the livelihood of gender, sex and porn cultures? Since non-consensual deepfake content as hate-media has become a widespread practice, the workshop will ask also participants to reimagine and reinvent common AI and deepfake content with focus on gender inclusivity and queer creativity.

This workshop is part of Disruption Network Lab’s programme “Decoding Agency”. Decoding Agency focuses on how digital culture enables social justice by providing new methods for public awareness and agency, opening up new fields of exploration and thereby strengthening civil rights.

Workshop requirements: No previous tech knowledge required. Please bring along a laptop or a tablet.

More info: https://www.disruptionlab.org/event/deepfake-phantasms

„Decoding Agency“ Program:

Funded by: Hauptstadtkulturfonds, The Reva and David Logan Foundation.
Part of: New Perspectives for Action. A project by Re-Imagine Europe, co-financed by the European Union.