OPINION: Biden downplaying ‘deepfake’ technology is dangerous for democracy
By Christian Sayers
Former Vice President Joe Biden accused Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign this past Sunday of releasing a “doctored” video wherein Biden appears to support privatizing Social Security....
When Biden says that a video is “doctored,” he is using the language associated with deepfakes, or video and other digital media that has been edited by artificial intelligence technology to create realistic, yet false portrayals of individuals.... Deepfakes represent a dangerous threat to election integrity because they have the ability to realistically simulate real recordings and spread disinformation. Experts believe the situation is only going to get worse.
Hany Farid, a computer science professor at the University of California at Berkeley, told the Washington Post, “We are outgunned. The number of people working on the video-synthesis side, as opposed to the detector side, is 100 to 1.”...
Hany Farid is a professor in the School of Information and Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
