Deepfake

    Cause for Suicide … Or Prelude to Murder

If a deepfake pornographic video can happen to Taylor Swift, then it can happen to anyone. It happened to 13-year-old Katy Philips … and then she died. Not knowing about the deepfake video, Katy’s family believed mean Facebook posts led to her suicide. However, Bob, Bobbie, and Gina—Katy’s closest friends—could not accept that. They searched her social media accounts until they found an obscure URL reference to a Pornhub video staring ‘Katy,’ an Artificial Intelligence deepfake creation. But who made the video, why was it created, and why was there a copy on the dark web? While seeking answers Katy’s friends enlist the help of Mr. Deutch, a local computer repairman and retired NSA operative. They also involved Mr. Harris, a lawyer and Gina’s longtime family friend. With Mr. Deutch’s help, the kids uncover eight suspicious local deaths they believe might be related to Katy’s passing. They ask Mr. Harris to obtain police reports for all eight deaths—a request flagged by an FBI AI search algorithm. Suspicions over similar patterns of death lead to FBI, NSA, and CIA involvement in a series of discoveries that cast doubt on how Katy died. Was she murdered? Was her death part of a national plot … or an international plot? As the kids and Mr. Deutch peel back each layer of a deeply complicated plot that could impact world stability and the national defense, the kids are targeted for assassination. Kidnapped and tortured, they make their peace with God as authorities at all levels race to find them. Even if the kids can be saved, are the investigations they began and the threats they uncovered so pervasive they cannot be overcome?