It appears that not all AI-based applications are created with good intentions. Deepfakes is a prime example of AI gone bad. Deepfakes are fake media that are created where a person or an existing image or video is purposely replaced with an AI and ML generated imitation. While fake news is one thing, creating hoaxes and even perpetrating financial fraud takes things to an entirely different dimension. The story that follows exposes an unfortunate dark side of AI and ML that everyone should be keenly aware of.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and closely-related emerging technologies are making tremendous inroads into everyday life and every vertical industry. AI has permeated into many aspects of personal and professional functions—from suggesting topics and friends on social media feeds based on human behavior to assisting in robotic surgeries and possibly helping detect early stages of pancreatic cancer.
It is no wonder the global enterprise AI market size was valued at $4.7 billion in 2018 and is projected to reach $53.1 billion by 2026, according to Allied Market Research. However, with the evolution and growth of AI comes a degree of exploitation and even sinister uses.
Enter deepfakes. Deepfakes are fake media that are created where a person or existing image / video is purposely replaced with an imitation. While this concept in not new, deepfakes are now leveraging powerful techniques from AI and machine learning to manipulate content with the sole purpose being to deceive the reader. And while deepfakes originally started getting attention for use in fake news, it is quickly becoming more sophisticated with its hoaxes and financial fraud.