Cops are now deepfaking a murder victim in a last-ditch attempt to bring his killer to justice.
It was reported by the Euronews that Dutch police are describing their use of “deepfake” technology in the complex case of Sedar Soares’ 2003 murder, making it a “world first.”
The 13-year-old Soares was shot dead in a parking garage in Rotterdam almost twenty years ago. His killers were never caught.
The Rotterdam police have now posted a video of the boy walking on a soccer pitch, surrounded by his friends and family, and calling the public to come forward with any information they may have about the unsolved homicide.
“Somebody must know who murdered my darling brother,” a voiceover, presumably of or imitating one of Soares’ sibling, says in translated Dutch. “That’s why he has been brought back to life for this film.”
Lillian van Duijvenbode, a Rotterdam police spokesperson, told the Agence France-Press that the cops “have already received dozens of tips” after releasing the video. Although she says that they “haven’t yet checked if these leads are usable.”
Deepfakes can be helpful but there are various ethical issues tied to it.
“The potential benefits of deepfakes… are dwarfed by their potential harms,” Seattle University researchers wrote in a 2020 paper. “Ultimately, deepfakes are about deceit. The goal of the effort is to create fantasies that cannot be distinguished from reality.”
