Deepfakes

Posted: August 27th, 2021

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Assignment Seven

With the advent of artificial intelligence, the use of Bots or Deepfakes has increased the rates of fraud cases around the world. According to CNBC Reports, Deepfakes technology shows how easy it is to manipulate people. Hence, they are potential dangers in times of crisis (5). As a result, Bots or Deepfakes have negatively influenced the COVID-19 pandemic. The coronavirus news that has spread from China to almost the entire world since December 2019 is the most relevant example (CNBC Reports). For instance, between December 2019 and January 2020, China found itself fighting the epidemic fiercely. As such, several videos appeared on the country’s social media showing people fainting and collapsing on the streets (CNBC Reports). Thus, the use of Deepfakes in these videos created confusion among the Chinese public and the entire world.

Equally, Deepfakes have been a source of fake news that is inherently dangerous since it alters the public’s perception in the wrong way (CNBC Reports). For example, most fake videos distributed online about COVID-19 claimed that excessive cold, heat, and alcohol kills the coronavirus (Lenier). This resulted in the creation of false confidence amongst the populace, thus endangering their lives. Accordingly, false information affected people’s behavior and their response to the control measures instituted by their respective regulatory agencies (CNBC Reports). For instance, when quarantining demonstrators prevented hospitals’ access and stopped the health workers from commuting, it was a movement based on legality rather than Deepfakes. However, it is not difficult to find someone using the power of technology to complete frequent and chaotic tasks (CNBC Reports). Besides, cyber-criminals use Deepfakes as bait to deceive malware, hence detrimental to the pandemic’s effective management. Therefore, as argued by Lenier, it is safer to avoid social networks. 

Deepfakes capitalize on human curiosity and desperation, especially during the pandemic, to spread fake news. Since the pandemic outbreak, everyone was trying to look for information and find hope at all costs. Hence, being desperate drove people to find anything that is substantially hopeful against the virus (Lenier). Fear of the unknown made many people around the world susceptible to fake news. Thus, those running the Deepfakes network took the opportunity to get to dupe people for their self-fish interests.

Subsequently, Deepfakes is a cybersecurity issue since some of these networks continue to capitalize on the pandemic to post attractive but malicious links to their targets or victims. These messages contain links or video thumbnails with malicious content intended to harm their targets (Lenier). This includes stealing personal details, ransomware, and nudity graphics. Thus, without proper network security, one computer might be infected, creating potential security threats to their information. Likewise, Deepfakes technology employs machine learning and engineering to spoof victim’s technology systems with illusions and manipulate their access to information to alter their social or political perception. Hence, it is an unethical technological practice since it alters the public’s social, economic, and political perception negatively.

Works Cited

CNBC Reports. “Deepfakes technology will make you question what is real.” YouTube, CNBC International, 17 Jan. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKU2EZQvK1c&feature=emb_title. Accessed 19 Nov. 2020.

Lenier, Jaron. “10 Reasons to Get Off Social Media.” YouTube, The Artificial Intelligence Channel, 4 Aug. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCTlcj5vImk&feature=emb_title. Accessed 19 Nov. 2020.

Works Cited

Box, Buzz B. “How Deepfake Technology Impact the People in Our Society?” Medium, 3 Feb. 2020, becominghuman.ai/how-deep fake-technology-impact-the-people-in-our-society-e071df4ffc5c.

Simonite, Tom. “Deepfakes Are Becoming the Hot New Corporate Training Tool.” Wired, 7 July, 2020, www.wired.com/story/covid-drives-real-businesses-deepfake-technology/.

Hasen, Richard L. “Deep Fakes, Bots, and Siloed Justices: American Election Law in a Post-Truth World.” St. Louis University Law Journal (2019).