A Pandora Box Has Been Opened - Deep Fake Videos: A Commentary

Deep fake movie trailer for Back to the Future 4 is making the internet rounds. Image courtesy of Richard Nebens / The Direct.com

A deepfake movie trailer is making the rounds on the internet that is misleading the public into believing there's a new sequel coming out for the Back to the Future movie franchise. It actually popped up on my phone Google news feed.  The deepfake is fake is titled "Back to the Future 4: Back in Timeline". The deepfake movie trailer shows Tom Holland's head superimposed on Michael J. Fox's body. It spliced together clips from past BTTF movies. It also took a clip from Spider Man: Far From Home which shows Tom and Michael in a scene. The deepfake movie trailer was uploaded on You Tube by KH Studios and it's raked up 11 million views. This isn't the first time someone has tried to fool BTTF fans into thinking a new movie was coming. In 2020, You Tube EZRyderX47 created one using Tom Holland and Robert Downey, Jr. and their faces superimposed over the title characters of Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd.  Read More

Deep fake video of actor Tom Hanks. Image: ABC News.com

Deep fake videos have been a big problem for the past few years and it's only getting worse especially with the advancements in AI technology; and as we're witnessing AI is infecting just about every aspect of society. Deepfake videos are getting more and more sophisticated. Eventually it will be nearly impossible to detect what is real and fake. The danger lies when people and organizations create deep fake videos to intentionally deceive and mislead people. Many deepfake videos (whether it's a movie trailer, commercial, speech by a politician, product promotion, etc.) don't include disclaimers or warnings that it's fake. Actor Tom Hanks was recently the victim of a deep fake AI video that showed him endorsing a dental plan. Tom Hanks addressed the issue of AI deep fakes during an appearance on The Adam Buxton podcast by saying this:

"Outside of the understanding that it's being done by AI or deepfake, there'll be nothing to tell you that it's not me and me alone," he (Tom Hanks) said then, noting that the discussion is "an artistic challenge" and "a legal one." "Without a doubt people will be able to tell [it's not actually me]," he added. "But the question is will they care?" - Tom Hanks on The Adam Buxton podcast

Taking things a step further, what's to stop a scam artist from creating a malicious deep fake of say, a member of your family being kidnapped and held for ransom until you pay their demand?  People fall prey to email, phone,text, and online scams all the time. Can you imagine the mental anguish of a hapless victim of a deep fake being used to scam them out of their life's savings? 

Google, Microsoft and other tech giants are racing to keep this Pandora's box in control. But as Forbes Magazine pointed out in a 2022 article, "Deep Fake Is Here to Stay", even the best deep fake detector used by companies nowadays has a 65% accuracy rate. As I've mentioned in past posts, if you believe in the notion of singularity as it applies to AI, you can expect AI to surpass our ability to control it by 2030. Personally, I think it's too late but I'm a pessimist by nature. Businesses, social media companies, and governments need to get off their collective asses and create policies and enact very strict restrictions and penalties to control this stuff.

 

Sources: Forbes.com; Direct. com; ABC News