Monday, March 05, 2018

Move Over #FakeNews...

LORD 👏 HAVE 👏MERCY 👏. I guess it was only a matter of time before the casual internet user could make high-quality video utilizing AI. But this is bigger than that. FakeApp is a program built by an anonymous developer using open source software created by Google.

While this cutting edge AI tool could be revolutionary, unfortunately, humans have already ruined it. This product seems to have been co-opted by the dark part of Reddit to create pornography. One that spread far and wide had an actress utilizing Michelle Obama's face. Although I didn't see it, the resemblance is said to be uncanny.

There is some incredible goodness that comes from this application. The first being the average Joe utilizing it to add high-budget special effects to their videos. But what makes it so exciting also makes it so scary: it's only limited by imagination.

What is our endgame here? It could be incredibly easy to swap faces and create fake content. The problem is that this software is in the hands of amateurs - someone with the tech savvy of say... ME... could make a fake video that is quite life-like and realistic.

This type of programming isn't new, but again, is now in the hands of someone who isn't paying millions to access it from a movie studio.  This could change how we perceive the world, because if in the wrong hands, could be utilized for harmful practices, such as making someone look like they were at a location or participating in an act they were not. It's not difficult to imagine the harmful uses, but this social experiment should be closely monitored.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/04/technology/fake-videos-deepfakes.html

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