Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience

“We are still at the very start of the synthetic-media revolution. The ways in which it can be generated are rapidly improving."

The book plays out the development of ai through machine learning leading to the alarmingly fast development of Deep fakes. The ability for everyone to access open code, the prominence of websites including Reddit and the alarming rate of deep fakes used as revenge porn - 96% at the time of writing.

Interesting case studies were few, although the attempted coup in Gabon and deep fake porn websites were very interesting. Sadly this is where facts ended and the book spiralled into an opinion piece.

The overall content was disappointing. Between very informative breakdowns of the development and current status of deep fakes, were politically suggestive opinions as facts such as “Putin is one of the most dangerous men in the world” and constant efforts to discredit Russia and China. The reality is that these resources are available to everyone and I was expecting a much more diverse selection of case studies.

For the facts, the book is 5/5, but for the following shift in delivery, overall 2/5.

Thank you NetGalley for the Arc in return for an honest review.

This book is so important with the current times, and I was really excited to give this a read. In some parts, it felt very rushed and could do with some final editing and tweaking. The book itself Is very informative and the book is easy to read. The only negative I have is that it did not analyse or go into depth, I'm aware of what is going on in the world and what is happening but I wasn't aware of why it was happening and this book did not answer these questions.