Deep fake videos are evolving as quickly as technology has ever evolved. It’s becoming one of the biggest problems we’re facing while scrolling online.
It can be difficult to know what’s real or what’s fake, but the Let ABC15 Know Team is sticking up for you way you can sniff out deep fake videos.
With technology moving so fast, we all need to keep up. Ken Colburn of Data Doctors explained, “We need to educate ourselves on what to look for.”
Nowadays, just about anyone can create a fake video. “In the past fake videos were a little difficult but now the technology with artificial intelligence is really ramping that up,” stated Colburn.
Colburn said anyone who spends time online should be concerned about the AI tools that can create deep fake videos, especially in an election year. Colburn added, “If you’re not paying attention you take a video at face value this is probably going to spread misinformation faster than anything we’ve seen before.”
Colburn says as the technology gets better, you can bet it will be used for more scams. He also said creators of deep fakes rely on the fact that people tend to believe anything that supports their already held ideas, or beliefs – therefore you don’t question the video's legitimacy, which is why it’s so important for to know we need to be cautious.
You want to learn how to spot deep fakes for yourself but watching from your smartphone can make it harder to detect.
Colburn says one simple thing you can do take the video you’re watching and pause it. “When you pause it a lot of the stuff that won’t show up when its moving will show up, these imperfections,” explained Colburn.
When watching the video check the face, does it match the neck? Look at the eyes, are they different colors? Also, check the ears, are they the same size? Check the background of the video, does it match?
“(Is) the lighting is little off? The skin tones are a little different?” said Colburn.
Voice sync issues in a video are red flags too. “Synchronization of the mouth and the sound if something is just a little off,” said Colburn.
Because of the world we live in today, we need to become more suspicious about everything we see and train our natural eye to spot the fake. “If you start looking at them in this way, it’s really easy to start spotting these obvious fakes."
The good news is that the tools to make these fake videos are not that good, yet so if you are paying attention and know what to look for, it’s likely easier to spot.
Need more help? Check out this article.
