‘The video started playing and I saw a woman lying on top of a man’, Australian Noelle Martin says in an interview. ‘They were having sex. Her whole naked body was on display. When her eyes turned to the camera, it was not a stranger’s face I saw... but my own.’
Martin is the victim of deepfake pornography. Soon after she finds another video showing her digital doppelgänger performing oral sex. ‘It looked convincing, even to me,’ she concludes. ‘Why would people think it’s not real?’
‘This example is horrifying,’ says media scientist and philosopher Elize de Mul, who recently obtained her PhD in Leiden. Her dissertation explores the way we portray ourselves (and how others portray us) online and the effects of digital doppelgängers such as selfies, memes and deepfakes on human identity and self-understanding. ‘Coming across representations of yourself online can give you an uncanny feeling. I’m fascinated by the sense of discomfort that digital doppelgängers can induce.’
DIGITAL REVENGE PORN
When it comes to deepfake porn, this obviously goes far beyond mere discomfort. ‘For a victim of digital revenge porn, it practically creates a schizophrenic reality. On a rational level, the victim realises that it’s not real, but it can still feel as if it’s actually happening. That’s what makes it so terribly invasive. The impact is so great because these are moving images. Moving, hyper-realistic images are more likely to be experienced as real.’
De Mul obtained her PhD at the Center for Law and Digital Technologies. ‘I have no background in law but this research is also of interest to legal experts. In order to develop good legislation, for example with regard to deepfakes, it is important to understand the deeper layers of the relationships between technology, humanity and identity. For example, in the case of deepfakes, it goes beyond mere damage to the victim’s image because of the way they experience the situation. It’s so invasive that we have to ask ourselves whether it should not be classified as sexual assault or rape.’
The Lower House has now passed the Sexual Offences Act. Under this new act, the unwanted disclosure of sex videos, revenge porn and nude photos is defined as a sexual offence. The Upper House has yet to approve the legislative proposal.
The negative consequences of deepfakes are very real, says De Mul. ‘And the fact that 96 percent of all deepfake content on the internet is pornographic in nature says something. However, the technology can also be used in other ways. For instance, you could help heavy smokers quit by using “smart mirrors” with synthetic doppelgängers to show the smokers what they will look like in 30 years. These would show in a moving and realistic manner what life will be like if you don’t quit.’
THE SINISTER SIDE OF SELFIES
In her research, De Mul also discusses selfies. ‘In most cases, taking selfies is very innocent. People like to play with identities. And that’s important: it's impossible to fully understand yourself. By expressing ourselves, we keep rediscovering ourselves. There are many ways to do so: by telling others about yourself, through the clothes you wear, the books you read, or by taking selfies and editing them. You try to discover yourself through different forms of self-expression.’
However, there is also a sinister side to selfies. ‘You can get addicted to them and it can lead to confusion about your image. How you look on pictures becomes more important than how you look in real life. The selfies take the place of the original, so to speak. The confrontation with your real body can then be very unpleasant.’
Being confronted with your digital doppelgänger does not always have to be intense, says media scientist and philosopher Elize de Mul. ‘My doppelgänger experience is quite innocent.’
A couple of years ago, she received a message in her Linked-In mailbox asking if she might know the user pictured in it and wanted to add them as a connection. The user in question turned out to be a much younger version of herself. As a new student, she had once created a profile, linked to old email address that she had since forgotten.
‘The profile was nine years old; the digital doppelgänger can be persistent and resurface when you least expect it. It didn’t bother me, but the incident felt strange and alienating, as if another version of me was living a different life out there.’
Research from 2017 found that 55 percent of US plastic surgeons occasionally received requests for surgeries that would make patients look more like their selfies. ‘People used to bring pictures of a celebrity to the plastic surgeon, now they bring a selfie: I want to be myself, but this synthetic version of myself.’
ANDRÁS BECAME HAROLD
Memes are also very interesting when it comes to digital doppelgängers. ‘In certain memes, whole new characters are created that completely replace the original.’ That is what happened to Hungarian engineer András Arató. ‘He had stock photos taken of himself. They ended up in the meme sphere because he had a funny expression on his face. He’s smiling, but his eyes look anguished, like he’s being tormented by something.’
András unintentionally achieved world fame as “Hide the Pain Harold”. ‘When Arató was confronted with that reality, there was little he could do about it. He also saw people claiming to be the “real” Harold, a very strange doppelgänger effect. Eventually, he chose to make himself known publicly. He was increasingly recognised on the street, but the original had been replaced by the image: he was no longer András, but Harold. The only option left to him was to internalise the meme. So he started performing as Harold in ads and videos. By becoming the meme, you can regain some control.’
Elize de Mul
Digital Doppelgängers: Identity in the Culture of Imagination
PhD ceremony took place on 5 September
