Deepfakes have landed individuals in trouble before, like the school principal whose fake video showed him uttering hate speech against Jews and Black people. However, Breeze Liu’s case takes the threat of deepfakes to a new level.
In 2020, her life was turned upside down when she became a victim of deepfake revenge porn. An explicit video featuring her face superimposed onto someone else’s body without consent was circulating on PornHub, leaving Liu feeling violated and nearly driving her to suicide.
Rather than succumbing to despair, Liu channeled her anger into action. She reached out to law enforcement and non-profit organizations, but her pleas for help fell on deaf ears. “Unless I change the world, unless I change the system, justice wouldn’t even be an option for me,” Liu recounted in an interview with TheStreet. “So that’s what I decided to do.”
Leaving her job as a tech venture capitalist, Liu founded AlectoAI, an innovative company dedicated to restoring individual consent across the internet. The app utilizes biometric facial recognition and reverse image searching to identify unauthorized content and collaborates with platforms to remove it.
While AlectoAI is still in its pilot phase, Liu has already secured a partnership with “one of the biggest” platforms in the world to test her solution. The company’s mission is to empower individuals to reclaim ownership of their digital identities, providing a much-needed defense against the proliferation of deepfake abuse.
The issue of non consensual deepfake pornography has been steadily escalating. The problem will only worsen as AI image generators are becoming more accessible and realistic. Liu’s distressing story serves as a reminder that victims can come from all walks of life, and the impact can be devastating.
Despite the long road ahead, Liu remains undeterred. “This is not just about me; this is about humanity’s future,” she declared. “My goal is to make sure that no child would have to suffer what I had to go through. Do not let my yesterday become their tomorrow.”
With her approach and determination, Breeze Liu is leading the charge against deepfake revenge porn, taking a step closer to a world where individual consent is respected and protected online.
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