AI deepfakes and false content: Issues which unconditionally unite the royal family

The modern landscape of social media’s inescapable presence is no match for even members of the royal family — many of the Firm’s top players have become fodder for the latest fad of AI deepfakes.

PEOPLE recently reported that some of the recent viral clips featured such fabricated instances like Princess Diana serving Mexican street food and playing video games with Queen Elizabeth. Whereas the late monarch’s image itself has been doctored to show her rapping and shoplifting.

“While the most recent popular deepfakes are of late royals, there have also been plenty made of Harry, Meghan, Prince William, Kate Middleton, King Charles and more,” the report added.

In an apparently lawless sphere, where anyone and everyone’s likeness is fair game, how are the royals confronting the issue?

William and Kate

Prince William and Kate Middleton lived through a nightmarish ordeal when the Princess of Wales was forced to step away from the public eye following a cancer diagnosis, which was not disclosed immediately.

Her brief retirement resulted in countless online conspiracies, intense scrutiny, and further descent into global campaigns of false information.

PEOPLE reported that “intelligence agents in Wales identified 45 social media accounts, linked to Russia” which were solely dedicated to “disseminating and amplifying online rumors and conspiracies” about the future queen’s prolonged absence.

Following many such developments, while additional AI material has since joined the list, Princess Kate recently penned a powerful online essay, titled The Power of Human Connection in a Distracted World. Co-authored with Professor Robert Waldinger, a Harvard scholar, the text encouraged families to restore communal harmony from within amid the onslaught of increasingly distracting technology.

While, during his appearance on The Reluctant Traveller, William had revealed, “None of our children have any phones, which we’re very strict about.”

Harry and Meghan

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have also established themselves as opponents of the social media wave, given their own struggles against it. 

As ex-working royals, Harry and Meghan likely suffered blows from not only every corner of the internet, but also from sources within or near the Crown. While their years-long battle against malicious online content covered many arenas, they recently stepped into the ring against yet another foe — “superintelligent” AI.

Harry and Meghan were among a couple of A-list signatories on a letter which called “for a prohibition on the development of superintelligence”.

The document further demanded that the ban on the development not be dismissed until “broad scientific consensus that it will be done safely and controllably, and strong public buy-in.”

Companies like Google, OpenAI, and Meta were the target recipients of the written statement.

King Charles

Though the King is an entire generation removed from recent developments like AI and online platforms, he still understands the harm they pose.

Rev Tommy MacNeil, a minister at the Church of Scotland, revealed, “King Charles was clearly very concerned about the whole issue and negative influences on young people from social media. It is almost impossible to police social media, so we need to find ways to combat that.”

He also shared that his majesty was “concerned about the negative impact social media was having on young people in so many ways” while he further acknowledged the “problems and the difficulties involved in combating them.”