67 - Rini on Deepfakes and the Epistemic Backstop

In this episode I talk to Dr Regina Rini. Dr Rini currently teaches in the Philosophy Department at York University, Toronto where she holds the Canada Research Chair in Philosophy of Moral and Social Cognition. She has a PhD from NYU and before coming to York in 2017 was an Assistant Professor / Faculty Fellow at the NYU Center for Bioethics, a postdoctoral research fellow in philosophy at Oxford University and a junior research fellow of Jesus College Oxford. We talk about the political and epistemological consequences of deepfakes. This is a fascinating and timely conversation. You can download this episode here or listen below. You can also subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and a variety of other podcasting services (the RSS feed here). Show Notes0:00 - Introduction3:20 - What are deepfakes?7:35 - What is the academic justification for creating deepfakes (if any)?11:35 - The different uses of deepfakes: Porn versus Politics16:00 - The epistemic backstop and the role of audiovisual recordings22:50 - Two ways that recordings regulate our testimonial practices26:00 - But recordings aren't a window onto the truth, are they?34:34 - Is the Golden Age of recordings over?39:36 - Will the rise of deepfakes lead to the rise of epistemic elites?44:32 - How will deepfakes fuel political partisanship?50:28 - Deepfakes and the end of public reason54:15 - Is there something particularly disruptive about deepfakes?58:25 - What can be done to address the problem?  Relevant LinksRegina's HomepageRegina's Philpapers Page"Deepfakes and the Epistemic Backstop" by Regina"Fake News and Partisan Epistemology" by ReginaJeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson Deepfake Video"California’s Anti-Deepfake Law Is Far Too Feeble" Op-Ed in Wired #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ Subscribe to the newsletter