In 2023, more deepfake abuse videos were shared than in every other year in history combined, according to an analysis by independent researcher Genevieve Oh. What used to take skillful, tech-savvy experts hours to Photoshop can now be whipped up at a moment’s notice with the help of an app. Some deepfake websites even offer tutorials on how to create AI pornography.
What happens if we don’t get this under control? It will further blur the lines between what’s real and what’s not — as politics become more and more polarized. What will happen when voters can’t separate truth from lies? And what are the stakes? As we get closer to the presidential election, democracy itself could be at risk. And, as Ocasio-Cortez points out in our conversation, it’s about much more than imaginary images.
“It’s so important to me that people understand that this is not just a form of interpersonal violence, it’s not just about the harm that’s done to the victim,” she says about nonconsensual deepfake porn. She puts down her spoon and leans forward. “Because this technology threatens to do it at scale — this is about class subjugation. It’s a subjugation of entire people. And then when you do intersect that with abortion, when you do intersect that with debates over bodily autonomy, when you are able to actively subjugate all women in society on a scale of millions, at once digitally, it’s a direct connection [with] taking their rights away.”
Because “we are wasting your money” is false. They are either getting paid to try to advance progressive issues or they are getting paid to sit in their asses and promise to try once they have enough people. That they fail every time it’s false too. Also assuming that putting up no fight doesn’t hurt things is incorrect. Just letting the issue go and letting it become the new normal makes it harder to gain momentum on later.
You think drafting a bill is as easy and cost-free as just sitting there and doing nothing? Really?
You think that drafting no bills and promising to do it later is going to win more seats and not lose them?
Now you’re changing the subject from what you just claimed. This is what you said:
Are you going to admit that drafting a bill costs more taxpayer money than not doing so?
Because just hiring legal experts alone, which should absolutely be done before drafting a bill, costs more money than not hiring them.
Dude the topic has been drifting for quite a while. You going to act like “getting more Dems” doesn’t have a cost? You going to admit all the things you’ve blown past? Your proposal is to have them not do a major component of their job and instead focus on flipping seats blue. The money they get paid as elected officials gets paid either way. Either course of action costs money, doing the proper prep work for bills or campaigning. That famously so-cheap-it’s-near-as-free campaigning. They will need to not only justify to their own voters keeping them elected during your do nothing policy but also convince other voters to elect more do-nothings.
Hold yourself to your own standards.