The Saga Continues: AI Tools Persist in Churning Out Deceptive Election Visuals

“AI Tools Are Still Generating Misleading Election Images”

“‘Deepfake’ technology is getting better. If you’re not familiar, it’s a type of artificial intelligence that’s used to make images and videos that look real, but aren’t. It’s the technology that lets people put Nicolas Cage’s face on Elsa from Frozen, or to make Barack Obama say things he never actually said. But it’s also the technology that’s been used to create fake pornography, to make world leaders say things they never actually said, and to stoke misinformation campaigns. Now, according to experts, this technology is getting so good at creating convincing fakes that we may be nearing a time when it’s nearly impossible to tell the difference between real visual content and synthetically generated content.” – WIRED
Indeed, the world of artificial intelligence is about to venture into deeper waters, thanks to ‘deepfakes.’ As the WIRED article rightly illustrates, deepfake technology is going beyond simple face swapping Nicolas Cage and Elsa, getting engaged with something more serious and potentially hazardous – spreading false information which can upend the very essence of reality.

Capable of creating hyper realistic but utterly fabricated videos and images, this avant-garde technology is posing a great challenge in differentiating between visual fact and synthetic fiction. Misinformation campaigns could earn an easy victory while the boundary between reality and illusion would invariably get blurred.

Let’s face it; one can’t simply ignore the potential drama this could stir up, especially in the political landscape. Here, the damage could be gigantic, with deepfakes having the power to gin up convincing but false evidence of ‘election fraud.’ After all, winning a political argument with a deepfake on your side would be like hitting the bullseye, just with a blindfold on!

And yet, for all this potentially destructive power, it’s striking how a touch of levity prevails. One can’t help but chuckle when picturing righteous world leaders spewing absurdities and Nicolas Cage prancing around in a glittering gown. No question, it’s all great fun — until suddenly it isn’t.

The deepfake technology’s growing expertise comes with serious implications that need to be addressed. While it’s heartening to see tech giants like Google and Facebook stepping up to the challenge, it’s a race against time. Because who knows? Maybe sooner than expected, we could be dwelling in a synthetic reality, ingeniously crafted by the very technology we created. Talk about biting the hand that feeds!

So, folks, put on your detective glasses and start practising skepticism. In this deepfake era, perhaps seeing shouldn’t always be believing. This certainly isn’t the reality we signed up for, is it? Well, consider this a friendly heads-up from the rollercoaster ride of the ‘almost-real’ world that we might be heading towards. Hold on tight — it’s going to be one bumpy journey!

Read the original article here: https://www.wired.com/story/genai-images-election-fraud/