Fake people in fake videos

YouTube link.

And this face-swapped "deepfake" video:

YouTube link.

 Steve Buscemi's face transferred to Jennifer Lawrence's body (with her voice).  This one created probably for humorous effect, but ignore the oddity and concentrate on the quality of the imaging.  This technology is being applied to fake nudes, fake pornographic videos, fake political speeches, fake everything.

About a year ago, Vice's Motherboard posted an article about artifical-intelligence-generated fake porn (includes a gif of Hitler's face convincingly transposed onto an Argentinian president's video).

This is not going away.  It will be applied for nefarious purposes.

“You could argue that what’s new is the degree to which it can be done, or the believability, we’re getting to the point where we can’t distinguish what’s real—but then, we didn’t before,” she said. “What is new is the fact that it’s now available to everybody, or will be... It’s destabilizing. The whole business of trust and reliability is undermined by this stuff.”

Here's one that was done years ago when the technology was cruder (via an outstanding Radiolab podcast):

YouTube link.

An op-ed from the Washington post posits that Fake news is about to get so much more dangerous:

The most powerful false-news weapon in history is around the corner. The media industry has only a short time to get ahead of it. If technology continues its current advance, we may soon face totally convincing videos showing events that never happened — created so effectively that even experts will have trouble proving they’re fakes...

At a political level, deftly constructed video could show a political leader advocating for the reverse of what she stands for, or portray bloody events that never happened. It could trigger riots, swing elections, and sow panic and despair.

At a business and personal level, it could be equally dangerous. Fake statements by chief executives or banking officials could throw financial markets into turmoil. False videos could be created about anyone’s private life, with devastating effects...

But videos are more dangerous because of the authority this medium has taken on in society. For years, video has been the ultimate argument-settler. Online news outlets routinely hyperlink videos into stories to buttress the credibility of their reporting. Dash-cam video is often the clincher in claims of police malfeasance.

Society now has to learn that video no longer guarantees reliability. Instead, it could be the biggest lie of all...

Finally, in publicizing the dangers, media need to avoid a tone of hopelessness — “Soon we may never know what is real and what isn’t.” Quality media outlets need to emphasize how carefully they vet video. They should make sure their ethics codes and verification procedures adequately address the dangers. Otherwise, audiences will doubt any video — including legitimate and important footage that media outlets gather in their own breaking-news coverage and investigative work.