Some housekeeping
Starting this edition, The Starting Block will be published from a different timezone although there will not be any changes to the time it arrives in your inbox. In the near future, when I start uploading interviews, there will be an accompanying issue, On the Sideline, which will be published on Substack only (and does not go to your inbox), where the full transcript of the interviews will be available. This will prevent the main newsletter from being too long. And on that note, I am still collecting potential interviews, so do let me know if you’re interested.
‘I don't want to upset people’: Tom Cruise deepfake creator speaks out
Alex Hern speaks with visual effects artist Christopher Ume for The Guardian about his role in creating the TikTok deepfakes of Tom Cruise with Cruise impersonator Miles Fisher:
Ume is no stranger to viral success. Despite only hearing about the concept of a deepfake in late 2018, he quickly decided to try his hand at creating them, and soon became one of the most adept users of the technology. In 2020, South Park Studios hired him to combine deepfake tech with the work of a team of crack comic writers, and last October, his first professional creation was uploaded: Sassy Justice, a Peter Serafinowicz-starring sketch in which the lead character interviews a host of global icons, all played by Serafinowicz.
Stuff's 2020 Facebook exit: what happened next
Last year, New Zealand’s news site, Stuff, removed all its content from Facebook. Just over half a year later, CEO Sinead Boucher told Reuters Institute that web traffic was not affected:
Neuroprivacy as a basic human right
“New braintech can capture a vast amount of personal data,” writes Moheb Constandi for NEO.LIFE. “It’s time to think about how yours will be protected.”
What I read, watch and listen to…
I’m watching Bombshell (2019) based on the sexual harassment cases at Fox News and Donne-moi des ailes (2019), inspired by the story of Christian Moullec who flew his ultralight with geese to help them with their migration.
I’m listening to Monsoon, a new podcast series by Law Yao Hua, that explores science and science journalism in Southeast Asia.
Chart of the week
From Jacob Silver’s piece for the Global Disinformation Index, which tracked the life cycle of a fake article that claimed that the new US Defense Secretary is defunding the military: