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THE RISE OF THE DEEP FAKE STATE

 

Deepfakes are realistic but manipulated videos, photos, or audio recordings created with AI that can make people appear to say or do things they never did. While they have potential benefits in entertainment and e-commerce, deepfakes are often used maliciously for creating non-consensual pornography, spreading disinformation, influencing elections, or committing fraud. They are made using sophisticated AI algorithms, like those that pit two neural networks against each other to improve the fakes to a point where they are hard for humans to detect. 

 

 
How deepfakes are made

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  • Deepfakes are created using artificial intelligence, specifically a type of machine learning called deep learning.
  
  
  • This process often uses two competing neural networks: one to generate the fake and one to detect it.
  
  
  
  

• These networks are trained on real images and audio, and their iterative competition results in increasingly convincing fakes.

 

• AI can also be used to clone a person's voice from just a few minutes of audio by learning its patterns, like intonation and cadence. 

 

 

 

Potential benefits

 

• Entertainment: Can be used to create special effects, de-age actors, or feature performers in movies where they are not available.


• E-commerce: Customers could virtually try on clothes using their own likeness.


• Communication: Can translate speeches to appear as though a person is speaking another language. 

 

 

 

Malicious uses and risks

 

• Exploitation: A significant portion of deepfake content is pornographic and disproportionately victimizes women.


• Disinformation and political manipulation: Can be used to create fake news, influence elections, or incite civil unrest.


• Fraud: Deepfakes can be used for scams, such as an AI impersonating a CEO to influence stock prices or to authorize a fraudulent transaction.


• Undermining trust: The prevalence of deepfakes can lead people to disregard legitimate evidence and erode public trust in audiovisual content.