Countering deepfakes, the most serious AI threat (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3: Security 
Prelims level: Deep Fake
Mains level: Cyber bullying and other threats posed by AI

Context:

• Disinformation and hoaxes have evolved from mere annoyance to high stake warfare for creating social discord, increasing polarization, and in some cases, influencing an election outcome.
• Deepfakes are a new tool to spread computational propaganda and disinformation at scale and with speed. Access to commodity cloud computing, algorithms, and abundant data has created a perfect storm to democratise media creation and manipulation.
• Deepfakes are the digital media (video, audio, and images) manipulated using Artificial Intelligence. This synthetic media content is referred to as deepfakes.

A cyber Frankenstein:

• Synthetic media can create possibilities and opportunities for all people, regardless of who they are, where they are, and how they listen, speak, or communicate.
• It can give people a voice, purpose, and ability to make an impact at scale and with. But as with any new innovative technology, it can be weaponised to inflict harm.
• Deepfakes, hyper-¬realistic digital falsification, can inflict damage to individuals, institutions, businesses and democracy.
• They make it possible to fabricatemedia - swap faces, lip¬syncing, and puppeteer — mostly without consent and bring threat to psychology, security, political stability, and business disruption.

Targeting women:

• The very first use case of malicious use of a deep fake was seen in pornography, inflicting emotional, reputational, and in some cases, violence towards the individual.
• Pornographic deepfakes can threaten, intimidate, and inflict psychological harm and reduce women to sexual objects.
• Deep fake pornography exclusively targets women.
• Deepfakes can depict a person indulging in antisocial behaviours and saying vile things.
• Deepfakes can be deployed to extract money, confidential information, or exact favours from individuals.
• Deepfakes can cause short¬ and long-term social harm and accelerate the already declining trust in news media.

Undermining democracy:

• A deep fake can also aid in altering the democratic discourse and undermine trust in institutions and impair diplomacy.
• False information about institutions, public policy, and politicians powered by a deepfake can be exploited to spin the story and manipulate belief.
• A deep fake of a political candidate can sabotage their image and reputation.
• Leaders can also use them to increase populism and consolidate power. Deepfakes can become a very effective tool to sow the seeds of polarisation, amplifying division in society, and suppressing dissent.
• Another concern is a liar’s dividend – an undesirable truth is dismissed as deep fake or fake news.

Major solutions:

• To defend the truth and secure freedom of expression, we need a multi-¬stakeholder and multi¬modal approach.
• Collaborative actions and collective techniques across legislative regulations, platform policies, technology intervention, and media literacy can provide effective and ethical countermeasures to mitigate the threat of malicious deepfakes.
• Media literacy for consumers and journalists is the most effective tool to combat disinformation and deepfakes.
• Media literacy efforts must be enhanced to cultivate a discerning public.
• As consumers of media, we must have the ability to decipher, understand, translate, and use the information we encounter.
• Even a short intervention with media understanding, learning the motivations and context, can lessen the damage.
• Improving media literacy is a precursor to addressing the challenges presented by deepfakes.
• Meaningful regulations with a collaborative discussion with the technology industry, civil society, and policymakers can facilitate disincentivising the creation and distribution of malicious deepfakes.
• We also need easy¬to¬use and accessible technology solutions to detect deepfakes, authenticate media, and amplify authoritative sources.

Conclusion:

• To counter the menace of deepfakes, we all must take the responsibility to be a critical consumer of media on the Internet, think and pause before we share on social media, and be part of the solution to this infodemic.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1) With reference to the Global Handwashing Day 2020, consider the following statements:
1. Global Handwashing Day is being observed on October 15, 2020.
2. This year’s theme, ‘Hand Hygiene for All’.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: C

Mains Questions:

Q.1) What are Deep Fakes?What are the catfish accounts?What can we do to protect yourself?