Conversations about Deep Fakes

Talk about Groundhog Day… It was exactly one year ago today that I first sent out an email about the AI system, ChatGPT, and our response to the challenges and opportunities it poses for education, especially an ESA education that is based on students building the habits (and as we’ve come to find out) the neural pathways that lead to true growth in the ability to think through a problem and communicate effectively. An ESA education has always been a values-based education that not only teaches students to discern the truth, but challenges them to live in a community of honor and respect for others. 

I’m writing to you as parents today to make sure you are aware of the next level of artificial intelligence that is becoming more and more common in our world today and the implications for our students. Most of you have probably heard about “deep fakes.” These are images, videos and audio recordings that are produced by artificial intelligence programs that create things that have never actually happened or existed. One of the most famous, early examples is this video of Morgan Freeman created in 2021. This was revolutionary three years ago, but today practically anyone can create things like this without a lot of difficulty. 

You may have read news stories about deep fake commercials, robo-calls, politically motivated fakes and just this past week a pornographic deep fake of Taylor Swift. These can lead to all sorts of confusion and non-civility in our society at large. We pride ourselves on helping our students learn to judge truth from fiction, evaluate information, and respectfully respond to each other—the ideas of civil discourse which I’ve spoken about on numerous occasions. However, there is another real danger lurking just beneath the surface here that I need to make you aware of. It is estimated that upwards of 98% of deep fakes created today are fake pornographic images, usually of girls. This has become a real issue in schools across the United States for the obvious detrimental effect they can have on the lives of the girls. The suicide rate for girls ages 10-19 has skyrocketed over the past 20 years, largely linked to social media and technology issues. In addition, these images could potentially be considered child pornography, leading to severe consequences for the person who created the image or anyone who shared an image. There are no winners here, only losers, and the stakes are high on every side of this. 

So I ask you to have a discussion about this with your child to make sure they understand the implications of this technology and the potential impact it can have on their lives and the lives of others. As always, we will stand strong and continue to live our values of love and respect in the pursuit of excellence. Areté!