Civility & Other Dangerous Games
The FAIK Files
The Age of Digital Identity
This chapter focuses on the rise of realistic digital faces and the challenges they pose for online interactions and identity verification. It discusses super recognizers, face recognition genetics, and the implications of these advancements for security and scams in the digital age.
Welcome back to The FAIK Files!
In this week's episode:
- Why being polite to ChatGPT might be wasting Sam Altman's money
- Alarming advancements in deepfake technology and why even "super recognizers" can't keep up.
- We explain what a "vibe coder" is and why you probably don't want to become one.
- An Italian newspaper's claim to have published the world's first AI-generated edition.
Check out The Deception Project to learn about our upcoming Offensive Cyber Deception Masterclass and more.
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***** NOTES AND REFERENCES *****
Being Polite to ChatGPT Is Wasting Sam Altman's Money:
- Sam Altman tweet about "Please" and "Thanks": https://x.com/sama/status/1912646035979239430
- Futurism article on the topic: https://futurism.com/altman-please-thanks-chatgpt
- TechRadar survey on politeness to AI chatbots: https://www.techradar.com/computing/artificial-intelligence/are-you-polite-to-chatgpt-heres-where-you-rank-among-ai-chatbot-users
- Research paper on making AI less 'thirsty': https://arxiv.org/pdf/2304.03271
- Washington Post article on water usage claims: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/09/18/energy-ai-use-electricity-water-data-centers/
- Axios article on AI energy consumption: https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-generate-506cb450-1ec4-11f0-9e47-c56f3bfd63d8
- New IEA report on Energy and AI: https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/86ed1178-4d77-45ac-ab38-28e849f3b93f/EnergyandAI.pdf
Deepfakes Are Getting Too Good (and Too Easy):
- Article on super recognizers and deepfakes: https://www.biometricupdate.com/202504/super-recognizers-cant-help-with-deepfakes-but-deepfakes-can-help-with-algorithms
- VentureBeat article on a new (surprisingly good) open-source text-to-speech model: https://venturebeat.com/ai/a-new-open-source-text-to-speech-model-called-dia-has-arrived-to-challenge-elevenlabs-openai-and-more/
What Is a 'Vibe Coder' and Why Don't You Wanna Be One:
- Vibe Coding job board: https://www.vibecodecareers.com
Italian Newspaper Says It Has Published World's First AI-Generated Edition:
- The Guardian article: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/mar/18/italian-newspaper-says-it-has-published-worlds-first-ai-generated-edition
- Reuters article: https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/italian-newspaper-gives-free-rein-ai-admires-its-irony-2025-04-18/
*** THE BOILERPLATE ***
Check out Perry & Mason's other show, the Digital Folklore Podcast:
- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-folklore/id1657374458
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2v1BelkrbSRSkHEP4cYffj?si=u4XTTY4pR4qEqh5zMNSVQA
- Other: https://digitalfolklore.fm
Want to connect with us? Here's how:
Connect with Perry:
- Perry on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/perrycarpenter
- Perry on X: https://x.com/perrycarpenter
- Perry on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/perrycarpenter.bsky.social
Connect with Mason:
- Mason on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mason-amadeus-a853a7242/
- Mason on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/wickedinterest.ing
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