I've got those post-sf convention distopian blues

It's that state of mind that occurs for a week or two after you've been to a science fiction convention, like this past weekend's Readercon, and news stories strike you as even more ominously dystopian than usual which, after 2020, is saying a lot. But, seriously, creating your own doppleganger, you know that never goes well, especially when you compare them to cute harmless puppies. I mean, WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?!

Deepfakes Are Now Making Business Pitches
TOM SIMONITE
08.16.2021 07:00 AM
https://www.wired.com/story/deepfakes-making-business-pitches/

The clips are presented openly as synthetic, not as real videos intended to fool viewers. Reeder says they have proven to be an effective way to liven up otherwise routine interactions with clients. “It’s like bringing a puppy on camera,” he says. “They warm up to it.”

New corporate tools require new lingo: EY calls these its virtual doubles ARIs, for artificial reality identity, instead of deepfakes. Whatever you call them, they’re the latest example of the commercialization of AI-generated imagery and audio,
https://www.wired.com/story/covid-drives-real-businesses-deepfake-technology/
a technical concept that first came to broad public notice in 2017 when synthetic and pornographic clips of Hollywood actors began to circulate online. Deepfakes have steadily gotten more convincing, commercial, and
easier to make
https://www.wired.com/story/cheap-easy-deepfakes-closer-real-thing/
since.