Faking It
We live in a world where you can’t believe everything you see. Therein lies the concern with “deepfakes,” videos manipulated to mislead viewers into believing that what they’re watching is authentic, when it’s not. It’s led to growing concern that “deepfakes” could not only impact the 2020 U.S. general election, but ruin reputations and impact businesses in general. Manipulated videos that look real could convince viewers that the subjects said and did things that they didn't. What used to take digital artists hours or days to achieve, can now be done faster and with greater believability than ever before, thanks to Artificial intelligence (AI) which can artfully blend multiple images or audio to produce sophisticated “deepfakes.” Facebook and Twitter have banned these videos by increasing scrutiny and skepticism of media uploaded to the internet, especially by anonymous or unknown sources, but the social media sites aren’t banning satire or parody. Experts say intention is the key differentiator, as “deepfakes” aim to deceive viewers, while satire is apparent. There’ve been legal efforts to stop the proliferation of “deepfakes,” with the introduction of legislation into the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, but it’s unlikely that a legislative approach can police this emerging technology. Ultimately, the tech industry may be better suited to tackle this issue, using evolving “deepfake” detection technology to identify video content authenticity.
