Synthetic Likeness Ethics

Synthetic likeness ethics urges organizations to treat generating and using digital avatars, deepfakes, and other likenesses as deliberate ethical design choices rather than technical afterthoughts. Easy-to-create synthetic faces and voices create tangible legal, trust, and consent risks; adopting explicit policies and guardrails prevents misuse, protects individuals, and preserves credibility. The surprising takeaway is that small procedural steps—consent protocols, transparency labels, and governance criteria—significantly reduce harm and liability. By framing likeness generation as a policy decision, teams align technical capability with moral responsibility, inviting safer innovation and stronger public trust while making clear when and how synthetic representations are appropriate.