Apr 20, 2023

Hany Farid Explains Why Deepfakes Destroy Political Accountability

From Fox News

How deepfakes are on the verge of destroying political accountability

By Jon Michael Raasch

AI-generated pictures, videos and voices — called deepfakes — are so believable and widely available that people will soon not be able to discern between real and manipulated media, an image analyst told Fox News. 

"What's important about deepfakes is not, ‘oh, we can manipulate audio, images and videos’—we've always been able to do that," said Hany Farid, a professor at University of California, Berkeley's School of Information. "But we've democratized access to technology that used to be in the hands of the few, and now are in the hands of the many." 

"When we enter this world where any audio, image or video can be manipulated, well, then how do you believe anything?" Farid continued. "Anytime I see the president speak or a candidate speak or a CEO speak or a reporter speak, now there's this lingering doubt..."

Read more or watch the video.

Hany Farid is a professor at the UC Berkeley School of Information and EECS. He specializes in digital forensics.

Hany Farid
Hany Farid (photo by Brittany Hosea-Small for the School of Information)

Last updated:

April 26, 2023