Deepfakes, what’s real?
Deepfakes are blurring the lines between what’s real and what’s fake. These videos take real footage and then manipulates it to make the high-profile figures appear to say things they’ve never said. Deepfakes are already going viral and will soon pose an intense risk to democracy and maybe even the world. One deepfake video out right now shows Mark Zuckerberg joking about knowing the public’s secrets and praised the artist’s new installation. The artist behind the video posted to Instagram wanted to show just how it easy it is to make manipulated videos.
So far the technology is very crude, so deepfakes can be easily spotted. But as the tech gets better, figuring out what’s real and what’s fake will become very difficult. One of the first deepfake videos to show just how disturbing and real the videos can be is of President Obama.
Already a crudely manipulated video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appearing to slur her words and appear drunk gained traction on social media. Facebook refused to remove the video and it became viral. That video was just slowed down, no other manipulation, and that’s just the beginning of the technology. Soon Deepfakes will get even more convincing and bold.
Washington lawmakers are already getting involved by holding hearings about deepfakes and inviting experts on the technology to speak about its dangers. The concern is that the genie is already out of the bottle and there’s no way to put it back.
The emergence of deepfakes is going to have a very negative effect on our society. Soon the lines between truth and lies will get even more blurred. Political parties or groups will be able to make opposing candidates say or do whatever they want. We are already a divided nation and this will just fuel the fans on both sides. In the future, there is even concern that the deepfakes will cause some people to believe that real footage is faked.
The future of journalism will be verifying the authenticity of videos and providing the context on the original video and the reason why the deepfake video was created. Journalists will have to stay one step ahead of this already fast-moving technology that’s getting better day by day.
