The End Of Photographic Evidence: AI "Deepfake" Technology And Our Perceived Reality

OK, which of the photos below are those of an actual human and which are computer generated?






Hard to tell, huh? An article that I just read, on this early Saturday morning, discusses the development of an AI system capable of replicating the human face instantly and with so much realism, that it's near impossible for the viewer to determine if it's real or fake. "Deepfake" technology has been around for several years, having been used in advertising and pornography. Many feel, that as the technology evolves further, it will be utilized more for identity theft and become a national security issue.

The technology has made yet another leap forward, thanks to researchers at Nvidia. They developed an algorithm that "is trained on a huge dataset of real images, then uses a type of neural network known as a generative adversarial network (or GAN) to fabricate new examples." Some people, including author and founding executive editor of Wired magazine, Kevin Kelly, believe that this technology has caused the demise of photographic evidence.

Uber software engineer Phillip Wang reportedly used “research released last year by chip designer Nvidia to create an endless stream of fake portraits.”

“The algorithm behind it is trained on a huge dataset of real images, then uses a type of neural network known as a generative adversarial network (or GAN) to fabricate new examples,”

Deepfake technology has also raised concerns about identity theft and national security, and in 2018, BuzzFeed released a realistic, but fake, video of former President Obama saying things in a PSA that he didn’t really say.

www.breitbart.com... cebook&fbclid=IwAR2SKmDqWbMHdyarwVKB9TxAiT4VEhQaBj-HSdgm3S8pIwzn_MYc2qOlm9s




ALL of the photos above, came from Phillip Wang's website, which "generates hyper-realistic portraits of people who don’t actually exist." It's truly amazing how a new realistic face is generated, each time you refresh the page at this website. Try for yourself here: www.thispersondoesnotexist.com...Makes perfect sense to me why Kevin Kelly believes it's the end of photographic evidence. It's becoming nearly impossible to distinguish true reality from manufactured reality.

a reply to: shawmanfromny

So not to toot my own horn, well maybe a little, I thought they were all fake. Little features like facial hair grain, reflection and shadows that kind of give it away.

There was a thread or video not long ago that showed public figures actually giving fake speeches. We're getting into some crazy waters.

With my tinfoil hat on tightly I reckon this tech has been around for awhile but its just being released to the public recently.

When all the video and photographic evidence comes out exposing public figures they will now be able to turn around and say "nope thats not real, its a deep fake copy, I would never do anything like that"

Look back at the stories that were gaining traction when they started reporting on deep fake and that tech that allows you to manipulate expressions and words in real time videos, I dont believe in coincidences

a reply to: JinMI

Agreed. I think within 10 years, perhaps way sooner, movie studios won't need to hire actors or actresses. They'll soon have to find real jobs, lmao.

Photographs will be encrypted with public and private keys with a chip in the camera (cell phone, et al) The camera will have at least 16 sensors (time, date, GPS coords, weather, pressure, magnetic moment, .....) that will seed the encryption.
It will be possible to prove the authenticity of an image with public keys without revealing the master certificate.

The military uses something like this, but it will be standard equipment soon. Regular digital images are not proof of anything anymore.

Interesting site. It throws up a few strange looking faces!

a reply to: shawmanfromny

I would speculate there may be some dopplegangers among Hyper-realistic portraits.

Points finger, "Hangon,,,that's me!"

Kind regards,

bally

a reply to: shawmanfromny

It's not just AI.

I've long said digital photography on the whole is a paradigm shift in the reality of photographs.

a reply to: charlyv

Unfortunately, that won't accomplish much. Many cameras now have on-board special effects which manipulate the picture right when it's taken. All the encryption in the world won't get back to the reality of the photo, regardless of location, time, weather, or other data).

originally posted by: JinMI
a reply to: shawmanfromny

So not to toot my own horn, well maybe a little, I thought they were all fake. Little features like facial hair grain, reflection and shadows that kind of give it away.

There was a thread or video not long ago that showed public figures actually giving fake speeches. We're getting into some crazy waters.

Hello Sir Jin,

The toot of your little fake horn?

Ohh! But your are right. Soon we'll have have leaders springing fake speeches maybe declaring wars all spawned by clever manipulators of this tech, as an example only.

Crazy waters? Yes. Where will this lead.

Kind regards,

bally

a reply to: bally001

The toot of your little fake horn?

Little? Fake!??!? Well, yes, both are accurate.

Where will this lead.

All the way back to 1984 of course!

originally posted by: JinMI
a reply to: bally001

The toot of your little fake horn?

Little? Fake!??!? Well, yes, both are accurate.

Where will this lead.

All the way back to 1984 of course!

I see you've compensated with a sword.

"1984"!. Interesting take.

"2024" = "And the Oscar goes to - (someone that's not alive)

Kind regards,

Bally

originally posted by: shawmanfromny
a reply to: JinMI

Agreed. I think within 10 years, perhaps way sooner, movie studios won't need to hire actors or actresses. They'll soon have to find real jobs, lmao.

They already did in Star Wars.

Foreshadowed by a 2002 movie called Simone.

originally posted by: charlyv
Photographs will be encrypted with public and private keys with a chip in the camera (cell phone, et al) The camera will have at least 16 sensors (time, date, GPS coords, weather, pressure, magnetic moment, .....) that will seed the encryption.
It will be possible to prove the authenticity of an image with public keys without revealing the master certificate.

The military uses something like this, but it will be standard equipment soon. Regular digital images are not proof of anything anymore.

But will the masses say "lets see the key" if something happens, or will they just believe it from the start?

This brings to mind the movies 'The Running Man' and 'Equilibrium'. Both using artificial 'proof' of digital efforts that control the masses. It's disheartening because there is absolutely nothing that can be done about it but I think everyone saw it coming.

There is one thing that I have done in the new age of information and that is to print to a pdf file articles of interest from the internet for proof of content because I have noticed it's quite easy for the content to change with time. Not much help but prevents me from thinking I am going insane.

a reply to: JinMI

I had to look closely to find all the small errors to make them fake. At a quick glance, they seem real. When studied for a few minutes, you can clearly see the big mistakes that the technology made.


Bad AI! BAD.

a reply to: shawmanfromny

Through the power of art-work propaganda this photo-fake technology will change the balance of power in Washington.

a reply to: shawmanfromny

As the article you linked stated, this technology has been around for “several years” now.

So why are they just now reporting on it? Why are they drawing people’s attention to it now? Why all of a sudden is it a “national security concern” when this has been around for years already?

Maybe because some damning video evidence involving some high level politicians will become publicly available soon? Maybe this is their way of trying to get ahead and controlling the narrative before some of their favorite deep state players are arrested for some very heinous crimes involving Weiners laptop?

The senate just passed a bill making public lynchings a federal crime. Gee, I was not aware that lynchings were such a problem in 21st century America.

Then again, maybe it’s all just a coincidence right?

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: charlyv

Unfortunately, that won't accomplish much. Many cameras now have on-board special effects which manipulate the picture right when it's taken. All the encryption in the world won't get back to the reality of the photo, regardless of location, time, weather, or other data).

The raw image is what is encrypted and is preserved. Any modification, clandestine or otherwise would fail the authenticity.
For forensic purposes, there would have to be a camera ID registry, with encrypted keys. Federal forensics may require a much more stringent and private set of ID's and keys. This is not much different than the security provided in encrypted communications channels already, using SSL , network ID's and public key encryption in VPN's.

I for one look forward to Weekend at Ginsburg's: Digital Boogaloo.