Deep Reckonings

Deepfake it 'til we make it

Deep Reckonings is a series of explicitly-marked deepfake videos that imagine the most morally courageous versions of our most controversial public figures. In one video, an imaginary Brett Kavanaugh wrestles with the way he responded to the sexual allegations against him. In another, an imaginary Mark Zuckerberg confronts his techno-utopianism. The series is an exercise in steel-manning where we often straw-man.

Launched in 2020, Deep Reckonings brought critical thinking to the emerging dialogue about the ethical implications of synthetic media — by proposing circumstances in which synthetic media might be used in prosocial ways. The project seeks not to deceive nor demean, but to imagine and inspire. In this spirit, Deep Reckonings asks: how might we use our synthetic selves to elicit our better angels?

In other words: deepfake it ‘til we make it 😉

Deep Reckonings won two Webby Awards in 2021. You can learn more about the project and watch the videos at: deepreckonings.com