Podcast Summary: The FAIK Files

Episode: From the Vault: Deepfakes and the Spectrum of Digital Deception
Host: Perry Carpenter (with Mason Amadeus)
Release Date: September 12, 2025

Overview

This episode, a re-release from the original miniseries that launched The FAIK Files, deep-dives into Chapter 6 of Perry Carpenter’s book Fake (F-A-I-K): A Practical Guide to Living in a World of Deepfakes, Disinformation, and AI Generated Deception. The main focus is the multifaceted threat of digital deception—from deepfakes and misinformation campaigns to prompt hacking and AI alignment problems—and how these evolving technologies exploit vulnerabilities in both people and machines.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Dramatic Demonstration: Disinformation in Action

00:03:58 – 08:41

• The episode starts with a dramatized vignette: Senator John Thompson’s reputation and family life are upended by a viral deepfake video spreading false, damaging statements.

  • The personal and political fallout is immediate, demonstrating the visceral human cost of AI-powered misinformation.
  • Quote [06:42] – “I swear that video’s not real. Someone’s trying to destroy me, but I won’t let them win.” — Senator John Thompson (voice actor)

• This scenario sets the stage for a broader discussion on the credible threat posed by AI-generated deception to public figures, institutions, and indeed anyone online.

2. Interconnectedness of Deceptive Narratives

08:42 – 11:53

• Perry and Mason reflect on how the book’s vignettes subtly link together, prompting listeners to wonder: is there a single nefarious force, or many opportunistic players enabled by technology?
  • Perry: “The technology is a disruptor and it's making a lot of people around the world ask questions and end up in situations that they wouldn't otherwise ask or situations that they wouldn't otherwise be in.” [10:34]

3. Writing for Voice and Sound: Crafting Audible Deception

11:53 – 14:56

• Insights about writing for podcasts/audiobooks:
  • Perry wrote with sound in mind, using text-to-speech and AI voice tools to refine writing.
    • “I typically use text to speech almost as a debug mode in my writing...” — Perry [13:00]
  • There are differences between how people write, think, and speak—a consideration when scripting immersive audio content.

4. Internet Anonymity & the Challenge of Verification

15:25 – 17:16

• The classic comic “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog” serves as an anchor for discussing how easy it is to obscure or fake identity online—a much darker reality in the AI era.
  • Perry: “It is now very, very easy for us to wear the voice of somebody else or to wear the face of somebody else or to write in a style consistent with somebody else.” [15:59]
  • Mason pivots: “Yeah, more like on the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog with a gun.” [16:38]

5. Deepfakes & How AI "Imagination" Works

17:23 – 21:52

• The hosts break down how modern image-generation models (Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, DALL-E, etc.) use “diffusion models”: start with an image, add noise, train the model to ‘denoise’ and recognize features, then regenerate images based on learned “essence.”
  • Quote [18:54] – “It is the imagination of bringing back the essence of those things in a ‘creative’ way based on the prompt that’s there.”
• Analogy: Like a sculptor chiseling away from a block, the model draws out a dog (or cat, or skateboard) from “pure noise.”

6. Prompt Hacking & Jailbreaking: Bending AI Rules with Words

21:52 – 28:11

• Prompt hacking is using language creatively to coax AIs into prohibited behaviors—jailbreaking the system’s alignment safeguards.
  • Perry: “Jailbreaking from this perspective is just basically using natural language because that’s what the interface takes and getting the model to do things that it was not intended to do.” [22:18]
• The ‘gaslighting as the new programming language’ concept is introduced—social engineering tricks, not technical skills, can now manipulate machines.
  • Notable quote: “Gaslighting is the new programming language.” — Perry via his son [25:59]
• The cycle of deception: humans tricking AIs in the same way they want AIs to deceive others.

7. Alignment Layers, Black Boxes, and Cognitive Security

28:11 – 30:10

• AI alignment (the “guardrails”): why companies won’t expose internal decision trees (may reveal vulnerabilities, bias, or enable better exploits).
  • Mason: “So by exposing more of that, they’d be opening themselves up to people... figuring out better and better and easier ways to get it to do crazier and crazier things.” [29:45]
• Cognitive security is a discipline covering both human susceptibility to manipulation and protecting the “thought processes” of machines.

8. Meta-Prompting: Teaching Prompt Methods with AI

31:47 – 37:42

• Perry demonstrates meta-prompting by having an LLM (Claude 3 Opus) explain prompt engineering styles (role-based, zero-shot, chain-of-thought, adversarial, etc.) in Gen Z influencer-speak, packed with emojis.
  • The output is read aloud for amusement and educational value.
  • Perry: “It has been shown in research that at least for right now, encouraging words get more encouraging outputs. It seems to make the model try harder.” [31:52]
  • Demonstrates: the act of prompting can itself be a human-like, emotive interaction, with subtle cues influencing results.

9. Prompt Evasion: ASCII Art & Encoding Attacks

38:02 – 42:05

• Mason’s favorite: ASCII art and encoding prompt attacks.
  • By disguising forbidden prompts (like “bomb”) as ASCII art, Morse code, or ciphers, attackers can slip malicious queries past AI filters.
  • Perry: “In security, for years, people have been trying to obscure bad inputs. And for whatever reason, when it comes to large language models, the alignment process did not fully account for those kinds of ways of masking input data...” [41:39]
  • Comparison to malware evasion in cybersecurity; this is “cat and mouse and Sisyphean.”

10. Interpreting the Uninterpretable: The Black Box Problem

42:39 – 43:52

• Even top scientists are “a little bit perplexed” by what’s going on inside large language models.
• Listeners with deep expertise in AI/ML are warmly encouraged to send corrections or clarifications to further the public discussion.

11. Teaser for Next Episode: The Now and Future of AI Deception

43:52 – End

• The next chapter will examine current real-world AI-driven deception and predictive trends (“cheap fakes” and shifting contexts).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the omnipresence of digital deception:
  • “The technology is a disruptor... making a lot of people around the world ask questions and end up in situations that they wouldn’t otherwise ask or situations that they wouldn’t otherwise be in.” (Perry, 10:34)
• On writing for audio:
  • “I typically use text to speech almost as a debug mode in my writing...” (Perry, 13:00)
• On jailbreaking AI:
  • “You're just gaslighting. Gaslighting is the new programming language.” (Perry [25:59])
• On prompt engineering:
  • “Encouraging words get more encouraging outputs. It seems to make the model try harder.” (Perry, 31:52)
• ASCII Art Attacks:
  • “You can actually deceive the AI into doing that thing because you can essentially slip that command past all of its defenses by encoding the bad thing in ASCII art.” (Perry, 38:49)
• On human and machine cognition:
  • “It is both the most human thing and the most inhuman thing.” (Mason, 42:05)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Intro & Episode Set-up: 01:23 – 03:58
• Dramatization (Senator Thompson): 03:58 – 08:41
• Discussion: Story Arcs & Tech Themes: 08:41 – 14:56
• Internet Anonymity—Dog Comic: 15:25 – 17:16
• Diffusion Models Explained: 17:23 – 21:52
• Prompt Hacking/Jailbreaking: 21:52 – 28:11
• Cognitive Security & AI Guardrails: 28:11 – 30:10
• Prompt Engineering Demo (Gen Z AI): 31:47 – 37:42
• ASCII Art & Encoding Prompt Attacks: 38:02 – 42:05
• The Black Box Problem: 42:39 – 43:52
• Outro & Next Episode Teaser: 43:52 – End

Tone & Style

• The episode features a mix of dry, technical explanations and playful banter, often leaning on dark humor to highlight the societal stakes.
• Mason’s self-aware asides and Perry’s clarity in breaking down complex ideas keep it approachable, even as the topics veer into unsettling territory.
• The use of dramatizations and meta-AI outputs (e.g., Gen Z style AI explanations) keeps the content engaging and illustrative.

Summary Takeaways

• Digital deception is not only widespread but accessible—anyone can be a victim or an unwitting perpetrator.
• AI’s creative powers also empower adversaries; defending against abuse is an ongoing, complex “cat and mouse” struggle.
• The boundary between human and machine communication is blurring, making traditional security and verification techniques less effective.
• Prompt engineering can be subversive and human-like, leveraging emotional and conversational tricks.
• Much about AI’s internal workings remains a black box, with even experts sometimes mystified—inviting robust community scrutiny and discourse.

For listeners new and old, this episode delivers both an entertaining narrative and a sobering look at the realities of digital deception in the AI age.