Deepfakes, cheap fakes, and other forms of synthetic media are creating new challenges in assessing what is real and what is fake in the media landscape. This talk will cover what deepfakes are, how they’ve been used, how they work, and what every library professional should know about their future. Rooted in real world examples with an eye towards tomorrow’s developments, this talk shows how misinformation keeps evolving and how libraries can work to combat it through knowledge and expertise.
John Mack Freeman
John Mack Freeman is interested in data privacy, emerging technology, and library worker engagement. In his day job, Mack is the branch manager of the Suwanee branch of Gwinnett County Public Library. In the rest of his professional life, Mack is deeply involved with library associations at the state and national level. An ALA Emerging Leader in 2015, he was the 2018-2019 chair of ALA’s Intellectual Freedom Round Table, 2017-2021 chair of the Georgia Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Interest Group, and a former chair of the Stonewall Book Awards. An active member of the Library Freedom Project, Mack enjoys presenting on topics such as fake news and information literacy, library services to marginalized groups, and the tough challenges involved in the intersection between library beliefs and emerging concerns.
You can find out more at www.johnmackfreeman.com