Holodeck ethics and deepfakes

[9ansean]

This article addressed the disturbing little known practice of deep fakes and the parallels to certain holodeck story lines. https://www.womenatwarp.com/computer-end-rape-culture/

I'm not sure if and how ethical standards could be set on the usage of holodeck replicants. Ronald Moore has said in the Star Trek Encyclopedia that "...there might well be circumstances in which someone might object to being replicated on a holodeck, but notes that it would be extremely difficult to define legally what constituted fair use and what was abusive. (Moore emphasized that he referred to holodeck usage by adults, not by children.)"

Still the ramification are quite disturbing. Especially when they no longer seem limited to speculative fiction.

Should there be limits on who can be used for holo-programs without permission? Should a workplace (even a work place that serves as a part time home like the Enterprise) prohibit the writing or illustrating of fantasies about co-workers even if they're kept private or only if they use and alter someone's actual likeness as Barclay did? Is the use of such likenesses for deceptive means of investigation as seen in DS9: Inquisition more worrisome? Could someone one day use multiple deep fakes placed in a single video in falsify a historical record like in Voy: Living History?

I'm very curious what others might think about all this. Since it add layers to the long held controversies about media influence in general.

[Yukaphile]

What about people who wanna just head into VR and bang some anime ladies? I think we all know who my choice lady would be, lol. And yet, would that person's voice actress object? I dunno. With real-life flesh-and-blood people, it gets murky. Anime is less so, but even then, the voice actor might not feel comfortable with her character doing that. It'd be either the same sense of ownership fans have for the product, or that she simply hates the idea of her voice being used that way. But then as we begin artificially manufacturing voices out of thin air, I think that will become obsolete. So anime will be the first market for people looking to bone others, lol.

[9ansean]

What about people who wanna just head into VR and bang some anime ladies? I think we all know who my choice lady would be, lol. And yet, would that person's voice actress object? I dunno. With real-life flesh-and-blood people, it gets murky. Anime is less so, but even then, the voice actor might not feel comfortable with her character doing that. It'd be either the same sense of ownership fans have for the product, or that she simply hates the idea of her voice being used that way. But then as we begin artificially manufacturing voices out of thin air, I think that will become obsolete. So anime will be the first market for people looking to bone others, lol.

Would most Anime fans feel the need for a specific voice actress to make the fantasy complete? Especially when most of it is available to western audiences in two voices anyway, (the original and the dubbed). I could see how many fans would prefer the version they known best, but how many would find that essential? Heck the longer any animated character has been around for, the more likely he or she will have been given multiple voice actors even if the basic design remains the same.

[Yukaphile]

I dunno, I would, lol. Just don't want empty screwing. I would need emotional fulfillment.

[Madner Kami]

What happens in someone's head, is only that person's business. To this extend, as long as what happens in the holodeck, stays in the holodeck, everything is permitted. You can't censor fantasy and you should not even try.

[Yukaphile]

What about somebody's personal comfort zone? I'd love to bone, say, Jennifer Aniston from a few years ago or Drew Barrymore. Think they'd object? And I can't blame 'em, tbh.

[CharlesPhipps]

I imagine plenty of women (and men) would license their images.

[Admiral X]

What about somebody's personal comfort zone? I'd love to bone, say, Jennifer Aniston from a few years ago or Drew Barrymore. Think they'd object? And I can't blame 'em, tbh.

Why would you tell them about it? If you look at porn of them (either legit nudes of them, or shoops or artwork people have done of them), do you go around bragging about it to them?

[Yukaphile]

That's different. That's photoshop. This is actually creating images out of thin air no different than the person itself. And I could sympathize to why it make 'em uncomfortable. People like that would probably have very few interactions online anyway.

[Fianna]

I'd like to note that likeness rights only come into play if you want to distribute a picture of someone. If I photoshopped someone's picture in a way they didn't like and posted it on the Internet, or sold it to magazines, or something like that, they'd have grounds to sue me. But if I photoshop a picture of them purely for my personal enjoyment, without sharing it with anyone else, I'm entirely within my rights to do so.

If we extend that to holodeck programs, someone like Quark selling or renting programs based on real people could put him in hot water (in fact, it did when tried scanning Kira so he could insert her into a customer's holosuit sex program), but someone like Reg Barclay, who makes his own holodeck programs based on real people, would fall on the right side of the law (though, since he's using a Starfleet holodeck, there could be additional regulations regarding how the crew is allowed to use it).