This came from Norton, the antivirus company but it's good info. It's a great reminder to be careful what we believe from various sources.
What are deepfakes and how to spot them
Deepfakes are a form of artificial intelligence (AI) in their compilation of doctored images and sounds that are put together with machine-learning algorithms. Deepfake technology can make it challenging to determine whether the news that is seen and heard on the internet is real.
In our web-centric society, these AI forgeries have become a cybersecurity concern on individual, corporate, national, and international levels.
What is a deepfake?
The term deep fake melds two words: deep and fake. Deepfake meaning combines the concept of machine or deep learning with something that is not real.
Specifically, deepfakes are AI images and sounds put together with machine-learning algorithms. The technology can manipulate media and replace a real person’s image, voice, or both with similar artificial likenesses and voices. It essentially creates people that don’t exist, or can falsely impersonate people, making it appear that real people are saying and doing things that they did not in fact say or do.
As a result, deepfake technology is now being used for nefarious purposes, including:
How to spot a deepfake
Is it possible to spot a deepfake video? Poorly made deepfake videos may be easy to identify but spotting higher-quality deepfakes can be challenging.
Here are things to look for when determining if a video is real or fake:
What are deepfakes and how to spot them
Deepfakes are a form of artificial intelligence (AI) in their compilation of doctored images and sounds that are put together with machine-learning algorithms. Deepfake technology can make it challenging to determine whether the news that is seen and heard on the internet is real.
In our web-centric society, these AI forgeries have become a cybersecurity concern on individual, corporate, national, and international levels.
What is a deepfake?
The term deep fake melds two words: deep and fake. Deepfake meaning combines the concept of machine or deep learning with something that is not real.
Specifically, deepfakes are AI images and sounds put together with machine-learning algorithms. The technology can manipulate media and replace a real person’s image, voice, or both with similar artificial likenesses and voices. It essentially creates people that don’t exist, or can falsely impersonate people, making it appear that real people are saying and doing things that they did not in fact say or do.
As a result, deepfake technology is now being used for nefarious purposes, including:
- Phishing and other scams
- Identity theft
- Financial fraud
- Hoaxes
- Celebrity pornography
- Reputation smearing
- Election manipulation
- Social engineering
- Automated disinformation attacks
- Blackmail
How to spot a deepfake
Is it possible to spot a deepfake video? Poorly made deepfake videos may be easy to identify but spotting higher-quality deepfakes can be challenging.
Here are things to look for when determining if a video is real or fake:
- Unnatural eye movement. Eye movements that do not look natural—or a lack of eye movement, such as an absence of blinking—are huge red flags.
- Unnatural facial expressions. When something doesn’t look right about a face, it could signal facial morphing.
- Awkward facial-feature positioning.
- A lack of emotion.
- Awkward-looking body or posture.
- Unnatural body movement or body shape.
- Unnatural coloring. Abnormal skin tone, discoloration, weird lighting, and misplaced shadows are all signs that what you’re seeing is likely fake.
- Hair that doesn’t look real.
- Teeth that don’t look real.
- Blurring or misalignment.
- Inconsistent noise or audio.
- Images that look unnatural when slowed down.
- Hashtag discrepancies. There’s a cryptographic algorithm that helps video creators show that their videos are authentic. The algorithm is used to insert hashtags at certain places throughout a video. If the hashtags change, then you should suspect video manipulation.
- Digital fingerprints. Blockchain technology can also create a digital fingerprint for videos. While not foolproof, this blockchain-based verification can help establish a video’s authenticity.
- Reverse image searches. A search for an original image, or a reverse image search with the help of a computer, can unearth similar videos online to help determine if an image, audio, or video has been altered in any way.
