Nina Schick

A deepfake is a type of ‘synthetic media,’ meaning media (including images, audio and video) that is either manipulated or wholly generated by AI. Technology has consistently made the manipulation of media easier and more accessible (ie through tools like Photoshop and Instagram filters). But recent advances in AI are going to take it further still, by giving machines the power to generate wholly synthetic media. This will have huge implications on how we produce content, and how we communicate and interpret the world. This technology is still nascent, but in a few years’ time anyone with a smartphone will be able to produce Hollywood-level special effects at next to no cost, with minimum skill or effort.
While this will have many positive applications – movies and computer games are going to become ever more spectacular – it will also be used as a weapon. When used maliciously as disinformation, or when used as misinformation, a piece of synthetic media is called a ‘deepfake’. This is my definition for the word. Because this field is still so new, there is still no consensus on the taxonomy. However, because there are positive as well as negative uses-cases for synthetic media, I single distinguish a ‘deepfake’ specifically as any synthetic media that is used for mis- and disinformation purposes.

2 thoughts on “Nina Schick

  1. shinichi Post author

    Deep Fakes and the Infocalypse: What You Urgently Need To Know
    by Nina Schick

    Introduction: ‘fucked-up dystopia’
    1 R/Deepfakes
    2 Russia: the master
    3 The West: the internal threat
    4 The Rest: global information disorder
    5 Deepfakes in the Wild
    6 Covid-19: a global virus
    7 Allies, Unite!

    **

    There is a viral video of President Obama on YouTube, with almost 7.5 million views. The title lures you in: ‘You Won’t Believe What Obama Says in This Video!’ Obama looks straight into the camera. Seated in a deep mahogany chair, he appears to be in the Oval Office. He’s aged – you can tell from his salt-and-pepper hair. But he looks confident, relaxed. Over his right shoulder, you catch a glimpse of the American flag. As usual, Obama is dressed impeccably: a crisp white shirt and a blue tie. On his left lapel, he’s sporting a US-flag pin. You click play. ‘We’re entering an era in which our enemies can make it look like anyone is saying anything in any point in time,’ Obama begins. ‘Even if they would never say those things. So, for instance …’ he continues, gesturing with his hands, ‘they could have me say things like President Trump is a total and complete dipshit!’ His eyes seem to glimmer with a hint of a smile. Obama continues: ‘Now, you see, I would never say these things, at least not in a public address.’

    Obama never did say those things. The video was fake – a so-called ‘deepfake’, created with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Welcome to the future, one in which AI is getting powerful enough to make people say things they never said and do things they never did. Anyone can be targeted, and everyone can deny everything. In our broken information ecosystem – characterized by misinformation and disinformation – AI and deepfakes are the latest evolving threat.

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  2. shinichi Post author

    ディープフェイク ニセ情報の拡散者たち

    by ニーナ・シック
    edited by ナショナル ジオグラフィック
    translated by 片山 美佳子

    **

    人類 vs AI

    バイデン、マクロン、ラスムセンら世界の要人に助言を与えてきた著者が書き下ろす、あらゆる情報が信用できなくなる未来。

    AI技術の進歩により、行ったこともない場所で、やっていないことをやり、言っていないことを言っている、ニセの動画を作れるようになった。腐敗した政治家や悪質な国家、テロリスト、犯罪者が用いれば、「ディープフェイク」は民主主義と個人の自由を脅かす新たな武器となる。そして世界中の情報が、危険で信用できない「インフォカリプス」の状態になる。本書は、国際的な政治とテクノロジーに関するアドバイザーとして活躍するニーナ・シックによる、未来への鋭い警告だ。

    【目次】
    はじめに 世界はニセ情報であふれている
    第1章 ディープフェイクはポルノから始まった
    第2章 ロシアが見せる匠の技
    第3章 米国が占う西側諸国の未来
    第4章 翻弄される発展途上国の市民
    第5章 犯罪の武器になる野放しのディープフェイク
    第6章 世界を震撼させる新型コロナウイルス
    第7章 まだ、希望はある

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