Week 6

                                                            

"What are deepfakes -- and how can you spot them?" 

This reading really widened my eyes because it aligns perfectly with a trend on TikTok right now. This past week, my "For You Page" on TikTok has been filled with artificial intelligence videos of well known celebrities like Jake Paul, doing funny, unlikely, things. But the alarming part of this trend is that the videos are incredibly realistic. Often times I catch myself not even realizing the videos are AI, and feeding into the content.

Deepfakes use AI to create realistic but fake videos, images, or audio. They make it look like someone is doing or saying something that never happened. These are usually aimed at celebrities or influencers, like the example I mentioned above. This article goes into detail about the issue of deepfakes but what stood out most to me is how easily someone can learn how to make and perfect a convincing deepfake with little skill or equipment. Anyone's reputation could be at risk.

This issue grows as technology advances, making it easier and easier to master. Deepfakes are becoming increasingly more realistic and less noticeable, and a growing number of people are having trouble deciding what is real or fabricated. This creates a dangerous environment, either people believe false content, or start to doubt everything they see. It becomes even more alarming when these deepfakes target leaders or politicians since fake videos could easily sway people, altering their beliefs.

For a long time AI was seen as a helpful tool, but deepfakes represent how AI can mess with our ability to know what's real and what's not. These photos and videos look incredibly convincing, making it harder for people to trust what we see and hear. This alters how we make choices, our beliefs, and possibly how people vote. The realistic quality of deepfakes is especially alarming for older generations who may not know what AI is or how it works, making them an easier target. It is important for people to understand what deepfakes are and how to spot them. Although we may not be able to stop them from being created, understanding them gives people a better chance at protecting themselves.