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What Are Deepfakes and How Are They Created?

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What Are Deepfakes and How Are They Created?

Since the beginning of 2018, the term DeepFake has been taking hold in the global web landscape. This form of video (or audio) manipulation involves using artificial intelligence to generate a video that is fake but seems realistic. If you haven’t heard the term yet, here’s an article that explains what are Deepfakes and how they are created?

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What Are Deepfakes and How They Are Created?

At a time when Fake news is becoming more widespread, how do you know if what you see in a video is true or false? How can we not be fooled when technology makes it possible to create, more and more simply and efficiently, sounds and images completely faked?

What is a Deepfake?

Deepfake is a technique for synthesising images or audios. Deepfakes use AI (Artificial Intelligence), which is very popular at the moment, to animate a face from images or transcribe a voice from audio samples.

The “generative adversarial network” (GAN) technique is used for this purpose. Based on a sufficient amount of images, you can, for example, place a person’s face above other images, without this being really obvious.

The term Deepfake is an English-language hashtag consisting of:

Deep learning which means: Deep learning.

Fake which means: False.

How did it appear?

Deepfake is a union of two words in English: deep learning, the learning system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and ‘fake’ or fake news.

The first deepfake that went viral, showed Hollywood actresses like Jessica Alba and Natalie Portman starring in pornographic films. Subsequently, it was learned that these videos were made by artificial intelligence experts.

The phenomenon didn’t begin until 2018, and since then, many more videos featuring other actors have appeared, such as comedian Bill Hader, who became Tom Cruise in an interview on David Letterman’s talk show. And also political figures, including former US President Barak Obama who apparently insults Donald Trump.

As you can see, it is not only pornographic content, but also speeches that can seriously damage the reputation of the people who appear in it by making them say words they have never uttered from their mouths.

How does a Deepfake work?

The best known approach to creating a deepfake is to replace one face to another and its animation as perfect as possible.

You have to take a person who looks a bit like the target and film them from different angles and lighting, asking them to make various facial expressions. The program will use this base to artificially animate the real face of the target.

To animate a face, you have to have access to several thousand shots of a person, from different angles. Often collecting a video frame by frame may suffice. There are algorithms that can retrieve the content from one video and apply it to another without altering its style or quality.

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Behind what is known as “deepfakes” is a new way of creating audiovisual content. A method in which the share of human expertise is no longer centered on a creator’s visual talents, but on his ability to manipulate models and computer languages ad hoc.

These videos, sounds, texts or images are made using algorithms within the field of artificial intelligence: artificial neural networks. These allow almost imperceptible manipulations of the face, voice or body, including faceswaps, which consist of digitally grafting the face from one person to another.

Dangers of Deepfake

Now imagine it’s about you. Exposed in a very awkward situation, jeopardizing your privacy or professional life. As in the video where Barack Obama insults his successor: This striking trick gives a glimpse of the role that DeepFake could play in future elections destabilizing our democratic models a little more.

What Are Deepfakes and How Are They Created?

Image credit – BBC

This technique was first used to create fake pornographic films featuring famous actresses. And then, to get false information spread by politicians. In early 2018, the FakeApp app caused a scandal because it allowed ordinary people to create a “deepfake” video from a standard PC.

They used this technique in May to release a fake video of Donald Trump, in which the president addressed Belgians and urged them to pull out of the Paris climate agreement. This action has drawn widespread criticism around the world.

Deepfake is a hashtag derived from the terms “deep learning” and “fake news.”

But DeepFake is not limited to politics. It also attacks celebrities, and could even affect you directly.

Scarlett Johannson and many other actresses have found themselves on pornographic sites, in X-movies that they have never made.

Some have similarly falsified content to create “revenge porn”

videos specifically created to hurt the target. She finds her face on the body of one or another.

An identical technique can be applied to audio: based on recordings of a person’s voice (20 minutes would suffice), the computer is able to generate all possible words with that voice.

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Fake videos or fake audio files are becoming more realistic and easier to make.  The best weapon for this kind of trickery is your vigilance. So stay alert, scammers will always have a head start!

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What Are Deepfakes and How They Are Created?

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