The technology to "revive" certain ancestors, such as Lola Flores, which has gone viral

Deepfakes poses moral and legal debate

photo_camera AFP PHOTO/MBC - Scene from the documentary "I met you" in which a mother meets her dead daughter through virtual reality

The vertiginous advance of technology means that there are more and more possibilities when it comes to creating, producing content and developing new forms of presentation and assembly, but it also means that there are not always specific laws that cover these new technologies. One of the new trends emerging in the field of technology and especially in the audiovisual production branch is deepfake. This new modality is based on the ability to revive certain deceased people. The most recent case is that of the Cruzcampo beer advertising campaign, "Con mucho acento", in which the singer Lola Flores appears as the protagonist in an act of vindication of diversity. In the advert, by means of artificial intelligence and the use of image and sound, Lola Flores comes back to life to launch a message that appeals to diversity and the "power" of each person with their own way of being, as the singer called it.

This new modality excites many and arouses great surprise in viewers to see again the charisma that these people left, their legacy, but on the other hand it has generated great debate in the population, as some think that it is not moral to use images of deceased people for commercial purposes, as well as appealing to other causes such as the memory of the deceased, the possible tendency to morbidity or the manipulation of the images. The boundaries of deepfake are not established and its practice has been carried out in very different spheres for different purposes, which is why the debate arises, and the legislation of this practice generates controversy.

Atalayar_Lola Flores

In Spain, the technology used as such is not regulated by law, but the legality of deepfake and other technological modalities is legalised according to the purpose for which they are used. Specifically, it is included in Organic Law 1/28 of 5 May on the Civil Protection of the Right to Honour, Personal and Family Privacy and Self-Image. The management of the right of image resides in the heirs when the person has died, the deceased person has no rights. Lolita Flores and Rosario Flores, daughters of the singer starring in the Cruzcampo campaign, participated in the making of the campaign and granted permission for the use of the images. "Despite being old, the Organic Law 1/82 regulates all these cases of image rights quite well," said Sergio Carrasco, an AI and security lawyer, in the technology expert website, Xataka. "At most it could be added regarding the abuses of deepfake and its use in political campaigns".

Even if this campaign does not have characteristics that damage the image of the protagonist, there are cases in which the use of this technology has crossed certain barriers and become a crime against the person. In 2019, the United States began to legislate against deepfake, for cases such as pornographic deepfake, where there are cases of publication of false nudity to intimidate or harass the person. In this case, states such as Virginia contemplated up to one year in jail and a fine of 2,500 dollars. Apps such as "Deepnude", which used artificial intelligence to undress clothed women, was forced to shut down a few hours later. 

Atalayar_DeepFake

This trend started in the area of pornography but gradually spread to other areas, such as politics. In these cases, countries such as China worked to legislate deepfake and make it illegal.

Another case that generated global debate was the reunion of a mother with her seven-year-old daughter who died of leukaemia in South Korea. The mother was able to see her daughter in three dimensions thanks to virtual reality and artificial intelligence. She was able to see her move, interact with her, even wear gloves that allowed her to feel the touch of her hair, or to touch her daughter. These images were broadcast in the documentary "Meeting you" on the Korean television channel MBC, which had millions of viewers.

Atalayar_DeepFake

The debate on this technological trend is therefore centred on whether or not its practice is legal, the answer is different in each country according to their laws. In addition to establishing its frontiers, as it exposes the wide range of possibilities and types of deepfake that can occur, from an advert that talks about diversity (Cruzcampo campaign), to reviving a deceased girl, or pornographic practices. Likewise, in many cases it is discussed whether the practice of deepfake is moral or not, as it can be related to morbidity, the dignity of the person or other characteristics such as respect for the memory of the deceased.

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