Neil deGrasse Tyson on deepfakes, being a ‘buzzkill’ and what keeps him up at night
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Famous astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is perhaps best known for his podcast “Star Talk”, where he discusses a variety of scientific topics with experts from around the world.
But he was also recently the victim of a deepfake video, in which he was seen, after very careful consideration, telling the world that the Earth is actually flat.
Tyson, 67, is now famous for his speech “This Just In: Latest Discoveries in the Universe!” On tour with. He recently sat down with CBC News — and talked about that deepfake video, what keeps him up at night, and what it’s like to be called a “buzzkill.” The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Nicole Mortillaro: That deepfake was absolutely wild. How concerned are you about the spread of misinformation and disinformation?
Neil deGrasse Tyson: I’ve thought about this and the better the deepfakes get, the more likely it is…int will dieernet. The Internet, you know, from 1992 to 2028, and then it starts showing cat videos the same way as before. So I think if it continues like this, the seeds are there for it to resolve on its own.
NM: Do you think the Internet will die?
NDT: If deepfakes are not banned in some way… if you start doing this with politicians who are in sensitive areas of the world, where there is unrest, where there is political tension, it could be not only a dismantling of an informed democracy, but it could also be a dismantling of civilization.
Look Tyson is trying to explain what is real:
NM: So what do you think about scientific literacy and critical thinking? Are they in danger?
NDT: It is not that critical thinking is less. It’s just that, if you’re not a critical thinker, the results You’re great: in your health, in your safety, that kind of thing. And in science class, they don’t teach – in school in general – they won’t teach critical thinking and maybe it’s time to have a whole class. I think the education system needs to change in response to this.
NM: Let’s get into the space stuff. Because this is my stuff.
NDT: bring it on.
NM: Perhaps what do you remember at night about the universe, about the universe?
Astrophysicist and science teacher Neil deGrasse Tyson sits down with CBC’s Nicole Mortillaro to talk about his recent experience with deepfakes of his own, exciting developments in space science and what he really thinks about being called ‘buzzkill’ for his sideline scientific commentary on movies.
NDT: I wonder if we are smart enough to understand all this. Why should we have enough intelligence to explore the universe? For example, might this require more intelligent aliens?
It’s like the saying about blind people touching an elephant. You know, there are toenails, teeth, and tail and none of their details match each other. And so they’re left scratching their heads without seeing the whole coherent elephant in the room… How blind are we with our feeble intellect relative to what might be required to figure out the universe? i staYou lie awake at night and keep thinking about this.
NM: What fascinates me is the fact that until 100 years ago we didn’t know that those little blurry things we saw in the sky and in telescopes were real galaxies. And now we’ve taken pictures of black holes at the centers of galaxies. In just a hundred years we have taken a huge leap. Do you think such a big leap will happen in the next hundred years?
NDT: I don’t understand why not. I mean, look at what we knew 100 years ago compared to what we knew in the year 2000. And what we knew in the year 1900 compared to the year 1800… I think there will be breakthroughs. I don’t know that there will be (successes) …And I’m not here to list what problems there will be in the year 2100, 75 years from now, because that’s a fool’s errand.
NM: I am going to ask you a little sensitive question here. You have recently gained a reputation as a person in the news. How do you feel about that?
NDT: If I highlight something in a movie that could have happened or happened in another way, I will only do that. So I will highlight something that, if the director, writer, producer had proper knowledge of science, they could have told a better story. This is where I will take issue. Don’t tell me, ‘Well, I don’t want to be bound by science.’
About being buzzkill, I don’t want to be treated any different than you might treat a car expert who, let’s say, and then there’s a period movie that takes place in, let’s say, 1958, and then, there’s a 1962 Chevy Bel Air parked on the street. You’d say, ‘Hey, you know your car.’ That person would be honored to know… but when I point out that BB-8 (from star wars) is a rolling spherical metal ball that slides uncontrollably across the sand, would you say I’m a buzzkill? i am juThey want the same respect that you give to other people who specialize in cinema.
