Home > Teaching Resources >
Infographic
Dr. Deepvoice, or: How I Learned to Start Worrying and Doubt My Ears
An infographic all about audio deep-fakes (deep-voice technology), as presented on Benjamin Law’s 2026 episode of Compass, “AI: Outsourcing Our Souls” and a snippet from CBC News.
The infographic is presented below, as created on Canva, with my reflection to the right.
I was drawn to the CBC News video on AI Deep Voice technology, acknowledging that it was also created over three years ago and audio deepfakes have come further since then. Interestingly, around the same time we learned about this in the modules, an episode of Compass aired on the ABC speaking to this same subject. Titled, AI: Outsourcing Our Souls, host Benjamin Law raised many issues I had not considered. These included the voices (and videos) of people who have died (termed, “grief tech”), AI companionship and its agreeability without critical thought, and the murky grey area of no longer being able to distinguish one’s own voice from that of the machine.
I wanted to include key takeaways from Law’s episode of Compass, outlining the Good, Bad, and Ugly involved with audio deepfakes. Initially I considered a Spaghetti Western theme (complete with the Clint Squint), but after the homage to Dr. Strangelove and the high stakes war-room that we find ourselves in, I pivoted to the high contrast, newspaper editorial theme to best communicate this urgency.
(I also had my heart set on the pun.)
I used design hierarchy: a large header at the top of the infographic, followed by the subtitle, and defined the term in a box beneath. I wanted to maintain the general theme of The Good, Bad, and Ugly but instead embrace the “Grey”. This was in reference to Benjamin Law’s Compass episode, where he presents the moral ambiguity of our time, noting questions of consent and identity. I also used a monochrome colour palette for each explainer box and let the intentional red “pop” for the title and subsequent Digital Safety Checklist (with strategies from the Australian eSafety Commissioner).
Naturally, I spent far too long overthinking its design, and on many occasions sought to revert to a simple “clipart” style of poster. However, to show the urgency of the topic I chose a more complex aesthetic. I wanted to highlight the “war room” and noir-style imagery of the original Dr. Strangelove film to evoke the uncanny valley and unsettling feeling when interacting with something that should be human but clearly isn’t. My many errors and challenges with the technology show that it was created by a human too! It’s imperfect and that’s okay.
Honestly, the hardest part was not adhering to a “personal brand”. The poster wouldn’t have worked in purple and adorable doodles. It needs to communicate the alarmist nature of audio deepfakes!