Sabrina Polin: Don't believe everything you see on the internet, not in the age of AI anyway. Deepfake is a type of artificial intelligence that creates convincing image, audio, and video hoaxes. A combination of deep learning and fake, the term refers to both the technology and the doctored content.
Deepfake has a presence in all industries, from politics to even IT security, as you'll see later in the video, so stick around. Deepfake technology has gained popularity and notoriety in recent years. Notably, during election cycles regarding fake video content.
Video is traditionally more difficult to alter then still photos or audio clips. Deepfake however, puts this ability into almost anyone's hands. Malicious actors can easily falsify videos to create the impression of people doing and saying untrue things, usually to tarnish reputations or spread false information.
So how does it work? And why does it matter? Deep fake content is created with two AI algorithms, the generator and the discriminator, which essentially work against each other to form a general adversarial network.
The generator creates phony content, like putting a politician's face on someone else's body, for example, while the discriminator determines if the content is real or not. As the generator gets better at creating fake video clips, the discriminator gets better at spotting them and vice versa, making for a believable end result. Deepfakes can be sophisticated and convincing, and have the potential to distort reality to see viewers.
It could even influence voters when used to damage a political candidate. And while experts say it's highly unlikely that deepfakes of public figures go unrecognized for long, they can still do damage if not caught in time. Voters, political establishments, and law enforcement should be concerned with deepfake threats.
But so should IT pros. Learn why IT leaders should be aware of deep fake security risks by visiting the link above or in the description below. Have you ever spotted deep fake content?
What gave it away or made it hard to tell? Share your thoughts in the comments and be sure to hit that like button.
