All about deepfake tech: AI-powered videos intensify debate on disinformation epidemic
The government stepped in with an advisory to major social media companies to identify misinformation, deepfakes and other content that violate rules and remove those within 36 hours after being reported to them.
PTI
Representative image
NEW DELHI: First Rashmika Mandanna and then Katrina Kaif. AI generated morphed videos of the two actors created a flutter last week, highlighting the urgent need to stop the misuse of deepfake technology and prompting calls for better ways to identify it. While Delhi Police on Friday registered an FIR against unidentified people in connection with the deepfake video of Mandanna, Amitabh Bachchan and Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar among others have expressed concern. The government stepped in with an advisory to major social media companies to identify misinformation, deepfakes and other content that violate rules and remove those within 36 hours after being reported to them. The debate, in the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas conflict that saw a surge in the use of deepfake video to spread disinformation and manipulate public opinion, also led to many questions.
WHAT ARE DEEPFAKE VIDEOS?
Deepfake videos are synthetic media in which a person in an existing image or video is replaced with someone else's likeness. While the technology has been around for several years, it has become increasingly sophisticated and accessible recently, raising concerns about its potential misuse.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
One way to combat the spread of deepfakes is to educate the public about the technology and how to identify fakes. ''Far more than technical expertise or abilities, there is a mindset we need to encourage. People need to be aware that the creation of fakes is rampant and becoming easier all the time.,” Eoghan Sweeney, an open-source investigation (OSINT) specialist and trainer, told PTI.
