If you’re not familiar with what deepfakes are: simply put, they are the result of artificial intelligence being applied to video footage. Words can literally be put in someone’s mouth. Someone’s face can be put on someone else’s body. Sometimes, it’s used for something innocuous, like creating dance videos. But other times, the purpose is much more sinister. Videos of politicans can be altered. Deepfakes are commonly created for celebrity or even revenge porn videos.
Complicating the problem is that apps already exist that make creating deepfakes accessible to the layperson. And, spotting a deepfake is often difficult to impossible.
Deepfakes are banned by some sites aleady, such as Twitter, Reddit and even Pornhub. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t out there, and they are an area that is likely to be of grave concern to those of us worried about information literacy and authenticity.
- There Is No Tech Solution to Deepfakes [Motherboard] “Funding technological solutions to algorithmically-generated fake videos only puts a bandage on the deeper issues of consent and media literacy.”
- Why Digital Signatures Won’t Prevent Deep Fakes But Will Help Repressive Governments [Forbes] “The problem is that not only would such signatures not actually accomplish the verification they purport to offer but they would actually become a surveillance state’s dream in allowing security services to pinpoint the source of footage documenting corruption or police brutality.”
- Naughty America Wants to Monetize Deepfake Porn [Variety] “This week, the company is launching a new service that allows customers to commission their own deepfake clips, which can include superimposing their own faces onto the bodies of porn performers, or incorporating porn stars into different environments. “
- The best defense against deepfake AI might be . . . blinking [Fast Company] “It’s not a permanent solution, because technology will improve. But it’s a start, and offers hope that computers will be able to help people tell truth from fiction.”
From the Ohio Web Library:
- Deepfakes are coming. Is Big Tech ready? (Sara Ashley, O. (2018, August 8). Deepfakes are coming. Is Big Tech ready?. CNN Wire. )
- Say What? ‘Deepfakes’ Are Deeply Concerning (Bates M. Say What? ‘Deepfakes’ Are Deeply Concerning. Online Searcher [serial online]. July 2018;42(4):64. Available from: Business Source Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed September 10, 2018.)
- FakeApp: Finally, a Program that Will Let You Seamlessly Put Donald Trump in Porn! (Gillespie, N. (2018). FakeApp: Finally, a Program that Will Let You Seamlessly Put Donald Trump in Porn!. Hit & Run, 1. )
