Deepfakes AI Assignment

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Assignment by Chris Shosted, Bedford New Scholar 2023

This assignment was a late addition to a class I taught on digital rhetoric at Moravian University. Students were working toward producing a video essay and would need time to practice using video editing software. Initially, I had planned to have students practice through tutorials on Adobe.com, but several students had mentioned a popular genre of video appearing online depicting U.S. presidents in absurd situations, like debating the best snack foods or video games. After researching this, I learned that these videos were made through a (then) free online tool and I adjusted my tutorial assignment accordingly to allow them to participate in the genre while still practicing editing.

This was a small exercise in the class, but students expressed in their course evaluations that they found it to be one of the more memorable activities of the semester. Specifically, they described how it gave them a newfound appreciation for the ways disinformation can spread easily and they forged connections between these deepfakes and the phenomenon of post-truth rhetoric. Overall, there are ways this assignment could be refined further, but it gives students an opportunity to participate in real-world genres to better see how rhetorical theory operates in their lives. 

Assignment Sheet

Presidential AI Deepfakes 

Script due 04/09

Video due 04/12 in class

This assignment will count in making up some of the SWAs you may have missed this semester. Please write a brief script (of about 800 or so words) that shows your own spin on the AI president deepfakes meme. Please adhere to the format below because I will be generating the audio to create footage to remix for our own memes in class. 

Example:

Trump: Sleepy Joe, you have no idea what you're talking about – Pokémon Ruby is the best game in the series.

Biden: Wrong, Oompa Loompa – Gen 1 for life.

Obama: Gentlemen, can't we at least agree it belongs as a high-B tier?

T: That's enough from you, Obama.

A note on language and content: As you write your script, please exercise responsible rhetorical awareness and compassion toward others. The genre of these deepfake memes, like much of the internet, features a great deal of prejudiced language. While this assignment is in good fun and a chance for us to blow off steam related to the absurdities of modern American politics, remember that words carry significance and power. As such please refrain from language and/or jokes that "punch down" or rely on racist, misogynistic, ableist, or homophobic slurs, language, tropes, or prejudices.

Tools and Equipment:

We’ll assemble our videos using our Adobe accounts provided to us by the university. Please contact me if you have any trouble accessing your account or downloading Adobe Premiere. Come to class on 04/12 with your laptops and footage downloaded.

The deepfaked audio will be generated using the online service elevenlabs.io, a product that is still in beta. Currently, you can sign up for a free account which will let you create three custom voices and generate 10,000 characters worth of speech each month. But because some of you may not be comfortable giving your personal information to this service, I will be happy to generate your audio for you from my computer based on your script. The files will be shared with you through Google Drive.