Instead of using actors to make the training videos, companies are turning to deepfakes. Think 2Pac at Coachella, but way less cool.
The company responsible for their production has to deal with ethical issues regarding political speech, and they have to gain consent before using any celebrity likenesses.
A story idea, another one about a loner: what if someone loved old episodes of a TV show, wrote them, and used their deepfake actors to act out the story? There could be an entire underground community of “The Office” fans who watch new episodes, created by one man. They would have to stay off the grid, because of intellectual property rights, but in theory, there could be a thriving web of creators vying to create the best new episodes of a series.
The best creators would rise to the top, each fake show having their audience.
Then, the government gets a hold of these creators and makes them create fake news material against their enemies. Essentially, they become the creators for Big Brother.
Their years of creation have honed their craft, and the technology is good enough where no one can tell it’s propaganda. At first, they think they are making a TV show, and it isn’t until the end of the first book that they realize they have been a part of creating a propaganda machine.
The second book could see sabotage attempts by members of the creative collective, but the main character decides to keep their head down and continue doing what is requested of them to protect their family. The family is rescued at the end of the second book, but they continue their work because they like to feel valued.
The third book could introduce new technology that measures a person’s engagement with the content based on physical signs, like the mirrors in 1984. This innovation brings about a further discussion of ethics. By the end of the third book, the veil becomes lifted, and it’s shown that EVERY COUNTRY has done the same operation to keep its citizens scared of foreigners.
