Generative AI, deepfakes and vulnerable identity: The ethics of uncertainty as an answer to an (un)controllable risk

Abstract

The algorithmic turn has given rise to high-performance, high-performance image generation systems (artificial images, deepfakes, fake images). Such a scenario is intertwined with the risks, dangers and threats to which such systems can open up and the uncertainty about the consequences of their use on individuals and the community. Bias, loss of control over one's own data, identity theft, opacity about data use, are just a few emerging ethical issues. Public ethics strategies can direct public opinion and citizenship towards awareness and co-responsibility of all actors involved, from creators to governments (who have to take charge of specific regulations) to users. This is to weaken the state of uncertainty and fear into which risk throws human beings, and to at least make them more informed and critical.