What Is Deepfake AI? How To Spot & Combat It?

What Is Deepfake AI & How Can You Spot Them? + It’s Potential Risks, Examples, and FAQs

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by Micah James — 11 months ago in Artificial Intelligence 6 min. read
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The Internet has been scratched with AI-generated fake videos. And it’s hard to rectify the originality and hence a good reason why you should be worried about deepfake ai.

Should you be worried about AI-generated fake videos?

I mean what it can do to you. Can they ruin your identity or resemble you on a serious legal matter?

Previously, there’s an incident that presumed deepfakes as a bad thing.

Let’s recall them.

Have you watched Barack Obama call Donald Trump a “complete dipshit”, or Meta-owner Mark Zuckerberg brag about having “total control of billions of people’s stolen data” – they all are a work of deepfakes.

Deepfakes aren’t real but they are perceived as art of real creation.

You can call it the 21st century’s answer to Photoshopping.

Let’s learn about deepfake and deepfake artificial intelligence in detail.


Deepfake & Deepfake AI

Deepfake is any still visual or moving video with action or expression of facial features that are not real, created using technology.

That said, ‘by the use of technology’ deepfake uses a form of artificial intelligence observed as deep learning that mimics facial expression or body movement to create a fake event. And thus called Deepfake AI.

Also read: Snapchat Planets: Order & Meaning Explained (Complete Guide!)

What Are The Uses Of Deepfakes?

As of now, deep fakes aren’t seen as helping hand for individuals or groups of entities. All of the deepfakes on the internet have garnered widespread consideration of youngsters, adults, and professionals.

Some might be created for fun or increase followers on social media; while some have been used to cheat celebrity or professional identity.

Deepfakes gained immense users attention because of it potential use in fake news, hoaxes, bullying, financial fraud, and sexual abuse material.

Deepfakes videos can intrigue someone’s identity in a bad way, possibly resulting in damage to their reputation. Defrauding the public, fabricating evidence, and undermining trust can also happen.


How Are They Made And What Are Their Potential Risks?

Deepfake creation involved a high-end computer with high-efficiency in power and computation. If you’re creating a deepfakes related to sexual content, you need a high-end desktop.

While creating a deepfake videos like voice clones or mimicked professional faces, can be done in standard computers.

In earlier days, deepfakes were created based on AI algorithms called encoder and decoder. But, today, as technology evolves greatly, many deepfakes were created through what’s called Generative adversarial networks (GANs).

It can create images that look like photographs of human faces and videos of mimics exactly to the other real person. Thanks to machine learning that creates new data instances from your training data.

The rise of deepfakes can bring several potential risks with it and those are;

  • Primarily, to purposefully spread false information.
  • To harass, demean, and undermine trust.
  • Misinformation and confusion about important issues.
  • Sometimes can be used to damage reputation.
  • Defraud the public or undermine trust for personal gain.
  • Spread fake news that influences public opinion.

More risks could develop as a new form of deepfakes AI in future surfaced.

Also read: 10 Top Android Apps For Personal Finances

Examples Of AI-Generated Fake Videos

Internet is full of deepfake videos, even social media app like Snapchat and TikTok uses Deepfake AI to resemble entertainment to its users.

Some recent instances that reflect Deepfake AI and the best deepfake examples are as follow:

1) Spiderman: No Way Home (Deepfake edited)

You have seen the trailer of Spiderman: No Way Home created by Marvel, but have seen deepfake edited trailer by popular deepfake creator known as Shamook replaced the Tom Holland’s face with the original spidey name Tobey Maguire.

2) Korean Newsreader Kim Joo-Ha

It is about a Korean TV channel. This came last year when MBN presented viewers with a deepfake of its own news anchor Kim Joo-Ha. The deepfake AI work is done by South Korea’s DeepBrain AI (formerly known as Moneybrain) and illustrates the reason for looking for media buyers in China and the US.

3) Obama’s Public Service Announcement

This would be interesting to read. Produced by BuzzFeed and comedian Jordan Peele using state of the art software Adobe After Effect CC and FakeApp, demonstrating Obama’s public service announcement.

It resonates with the personality of the former president’s jawline with Peele’s mouth movements.

4) Donald Trump lectures Belgium

This one is old but gained widespread attention across the globe. The video was uploaded on Facebook in the year 2018 showing Trump taunting Belgium for remaining in the Paris climate agreement by Belgium’s Socialistische Partij Anders (sp.a).

5) The Volodymyr Zelensky deepfake

How could we forget this one? This deepfake came across the web when Ukraine was battling with Russia, and people sought for humanity.

The deepfake incubated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky calling on his soldiers to lay down their weapons. This was uploaded to a hacked Ukrainian news website.


How To Spot And Combat Deepfakes AI As a Beginner?

Those examples of deepfakes wasn’t hard to determine, but at a glance it’s easy to be believed on them.

As technology improves at will, it will get harder to identify them.

There are certain signals that you can put on trial to confirm whether it’s deepfake AI created or original as standard.

Those signals include bad lip syncing, patchy skin tone, flickering around the edges of transposed faces, poor render of subject hair, and strange lighting effects can be a giveaway.

You can also look for the following spotting details to recognize a deepfake work.

  • Awkward facial positioning
  • Unnatural body movement
  • Unnatural coloring
  • Visuals are misalignment or blurry
  • Inconsistent audio
  • Absence of blinking

That’s all you can try until the end. Even if you’re not a professional or specialist in design or creativity, by considering the above details, you can successfully spot a Deepfake AI.

Let’s say you figure it out… What should I do to combat it?

  • You can use Deepfake antivirus to examine the possibilities of deepfake errors.
  • Use a detection platform like Sensity that alerts its users through email when encountering with deepfake creation.
  • To secure your content from deepfake iteration, attach some signature to your content to specify the details of creation.
Also read: Apple Watch Not Connecting To Phone: Here’s The 5 Reasons and Fixes!

Bonus: Best Deepfakes Apps & Websites You Can Try For Fun

While you have read much about Deepfake AI… I am sure you must be wondering to try by yourself.

You can create deepfakes for fun using some third-party websites. And those are mentioned underneath.

Be careful, read their terms of service and privacy policy before producing any deepfake works.

1. Deepfakes Web

Deepfakes Web

It is a good website to create deepfake videos for fun. You can use their service either to become a premium member or as a free member. In the free version, it takes upto four to five hours to learn and output the result. In the purchased plan, it can output the result within 1 hour.

2. Reface

Reface Deepfake AI app

Reface can be accessed on iOS devices, Android devices, and on the web. It’s a good deepfake app and website to create stunning and creative AI-generated fake videos for fun doing.
You can turn yourself into a cartoon character, a unique looking avatar, and realistic face swaps.

3. MyHeritage

MyHeritage Deepfake maker

It is a wonderful and quick deepfake online maker that lets you animate old photos instantly. Getting started is also simple, straightforward, upload an image and press the animate button.

Deepfake AI: Frequently Asked Questions

Who is making Deepfakes?

Since the creation of deepfakes can occur via mobile apps, everyone is using it for fun and personal gain.

Are deepfakes always malicious?

No, deepfakes aren’t always malicious but some of them can be to undermine trust and gain financial or personal profit.

How to create a deepfake using AI?

There are a lot of apps and websites that prompt individuals to create a deepfake using their AI algorithm. Reface and Deepfakes Web are names of few.

What technologies are used in deepfake video?

Primarily, it uses deep neural networks also known as deep learning that employ a face-swapping technique.


Micah James

Micah is SEO Manager of The Next Tech. When he is in office then love to his role and apart from this he loves to coffee when he gets free. He loves to play soccer and reading comics.

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