Imagine that you can dance like Bruno Mars or sing like Whitney Houston in just one day. The technology used to make anyone do or say things they have never done may seem complicated — but it’s very accessible. All that’s needed is some visual footage or a recording of a voice to start creating an alternative reality.
This kind of manipulated content that has been created with the help of AI technology is called synthetic content, or more widely known as a deepfake.
The Bruno Mars example is from 2018 and is still very impressive — but these days deepfakes can be extremely realistic and convincing.
What are deepfakes?
Deepfake is a term that describes audio and video files that have been created using artificial intelligence, “machine learning” to be more exact.
All sorts of deepfakes are possible. Face swaps, where the face of one person is replaced by another. Lip synchronization, where the mouth of a speaking person can be adjusted to an audio track that is different from the original. Voice cloning, where a voice is being “copied” in order to use that voice to say things.
Completely synthetic faces and bodies can also be generated, for example, as digital avatars. With deepfake technology, even dead people could be brought back to life, like the Dali Museum in Florida did with artist Salvador Dali.
These synthetic video manipulations are produced with so-called Generative Adversarial Networks, or GANs.
A GAN is a machine learning model in which two neural networks compete with each other to become more accurate in their results.
In simple terms: One computer is telling the other computer if the digital clone it has created of you is convincing enough by comparing it with the original material. Do you move the same, do you sound the same, is your expression the same? The system improves itself with multiple attempts until it’s happy with the result.
Although this technology is continuously improving and is highly sophisticated, you can still spot deepfakes if you know where to look.
Spotting the (in)visible
You do not need to become a deepfake expert to distinguish what is real from what is fake. Here are some tips:
- Slow down and look again. Think before you share. Ask yourself: Can this really be true? Would you expect this to happen? If you are not sure, don’t share.
- Do a quick check to see if you can find the same story or narrative from different and trustworthy sources. A brief internet search on a headline will give you leads on the real story.
- Find another version and compare. If you do not trust a claim, an image or a video, then describe it in a Google or DuckDuckGo search, find another version, and then compare the two versions. You can use a standard internet search for this or try a reverse image search.
Detecting (almost in)visible traces in synthetic and manipulated media is a much bigger challenge. Such manipulation can be detected by looking for strange “jumps” in a video, a change of voice emphasis, low-quality audio, blurred spots, strange shapes of limbs, and other unusual inconsistencies. Trust your senses and gut feeling. Always ask yourself: Does this make sense? Could this really be true? Look carefully and always look twice. Focus on details and ask a friend or colleague for a second opinion.
- Check for known deepfake giveaways: A perfectly symmetrical face; mismatched earrings or glass frames; unusual ear, nose and tooth shapes; loss of contrast; inconsistencies in the neck area, hair or fingers that are not connected.
Sometimes you will need to watch a video frame by frame to detect these inconsistencies. You can do that with a local video player (for example VLC) or online with watchframebyframe.com.
- Zoom in on mouth and lip movements and compare them with your own human behavior to detect lip synchronization. What should a mouth look like when making a certain sound?
Sharpen your senses
You have noticed that an essential aspect of verification is using your senses. And the good news is, you can train those. In this training, you will find exercises to sharpen your vision and hearing skills. Doing these exercises will make you more confident in detecting synthetic and manipulated media.
Dangers of deepfake technology
The impact of deepfake technology is profound in the domain of pornography, including so-called revenge porn. Fake porn videos and images are being published widely and causing harm to its victims, who range from celebrities to school kids.
For society, the danger of deepfakes also lies in the way of consuming media nowadays. The average person is inundated with media while online — and is not always certain that what they share is actually true.
In polarized societies, that behavior leaves ample opportunity to fool people into believing something — no matter the veracity. Therefore, the quality of the video isn’t even all that important. It’s about what you’ve apparently seen, with your own eyes, even if it’s not true: that then-Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis gave Germany the middlefinger; that David Beckham spoke nine languages; or that Mark Zuckerberg said he controls you because he controls your stolen data.
One politically motivated Deepfake that went viral in the Netherlands was created by the news site “De Correspondent” and appears to show Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte state a major change in his policy: From now on, he will fully support far-reaching climate measures.
Then there is the “liar’s dividend,” which suggests that some politicians profit from an informational environment saturated with misinformation. The mere existence of this technology allows people to claim that whatever they have said is a deepfake and to prove it is actually real is extremely challenging. The best-known example is Donald Trump claiming the “grab them by the p****” recording is “a fake” even after initially apologizing for it.
Lesson learned
Most disinformation is being published with a reason: to create doubt, to support popular beliefs, or to loudly oppose other beliefs. It is very challenging to verify images and sound that has been stripped of context, edited or staged. Still, for now, you can train yourself to better spot a deepfake:
Remember: If you’re not sure, don’t share!
Edited by: Stephanie Burnett
Fact check: How do I spot a deep fake?
Source: Pinoy Pop News
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