Understanding Shallowfakes | Ias Banenge

Context:

With the Lok Sabha elections scheduled to start on April 19, social media platforms are abuzz with misinformation, mostly in the form of shallow fakes.

Relevance:

GS III: Science and Technology

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Dimensions of the Article:

1. Understanding Shallowfakes
2. What is a deepfake?
3. Measures to address the threats related to deepfakes

Understanding Shallowfakes

What are Shallowfakes?

Definition:

• Shallowfakes involve the manipulation of images or videos using basic editing tools, unlike deepfakes which utilize sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms for creation.

Creation Methods:

• Instead of employing advanced AI technology, shallowfakes are produced using simpler editing techniques. This can include basic photo editing, slowing down video footage to alter speech patterns, or mis-captioning and mis-contextualizing existing content.

Quality and Authenticity:

• Shallowfakes are generally of lower quality compared to deepfakes, making them somewhat easier to identify upon closer examination.

Threat Perception:

• Despite their lower quality, shallowfakes are often perceived as more significant threats than deepfakes. This is primarily due to their ease of creation and dissemination, as well as the potential for misleading a larger audience.

Usage of Shallowfakes:

False Identity Creation:

• Shallowfakes can be employed to forge proof of identity or address, including the production of counterfeit photo ID documents such as passports and driver’s licenses.

Creation of Fake Supporting Evidence:

• They are also utilized to fabricate supporting evidence to bolster a claim or transaction. This can include generating fake contracts, agreements, invoices for services, no claims discount certificates, and more.

What is a deepfake?

• Deepfakes are a compilation of artificial images and audio put together with machine-learning algorithms to spread misinformation and replace a real person’s appearance, voice, or both with similar artificial likenesses or voices.
• It can create people who do not exist and it can fake real people saying and doing things they did not say or do.

Background:

• The term deepfake originated in 2017, when an anonymous Reddit user called himself “Deepfakes.”
• This user manipulated Google’s open-source, deep-learning technology to create and post pornographic videos.
• The videos were doctored with a technique known as face-swapping.
• The user “Deepfakes” replaced real faces with celebrity faces.

Where can it be used?

• It is used to generate celebrity porn videos, produce fake news, and commit financial fraud among other wrongdoings.
• It is now being used for nefarious purposes like scams and hoaxes,election manipulation, social engineering, automated disinformation attacks, identity theft and financial fraud.
  • Deepfake technology has been used to impersonate former U.S. Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg and Hollywood celebrity Tom Cruise.

Measures to address the threats related to deepfakes:

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:

• 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

Legislative regulations:

• Meaningful regulations with a collaborative discussion with the technology industry, civil society, and policymakers can facilitate disincentivising the creation and distribution of malicious deepfakes.

Technological solutions:

• We also need easy-to-use and accessible technology solutions to detect deepfakes, authenticate media, and amplify authoritative sources.

-Source: Indian Express

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