The Increasing Societal Danger Of Deep Fakes

The article below is truly terrifying, but it's important for everyone to read - not because of what happened, but because it showcases what is possible.

The ability to discern truth from deception in information that you see and hear is getting more difficult everyday. It is not an overreach to consider that one of the greatest threats to society today is the proliferation of "deep fakes," or the creation of audio/video that is manipulated to harm others or to promote a false narrative with the intent to harm others. The misinformation has the ability to spread throughout society like wildfire, not limited to social media as the article below illustrates, and can literally burn down everything in its path.

The bigger concern this article raises is that these deep fakes weren't created by some governmental agency or criminal enterprise, but by a suburban mom of a cheerleader who wanted to get rid of her daughter's competitors. Frighteningly, the ability to create deep fakes is relatively easy and possible for anyone who possesses a small amount of computer technical knowledge.

To those who have privately sent me information that purports to support conspiracy-type theories, perhaps you can now better understand my rejection of any social media post or video that proclaims, "No one wants you to see this!" or "Watch this quickly before it's taken down!" etc. - those with an agenda are already employing deep fakes to induce you to believe a false narrative. They can be very persuasive, and that goes with illegitimate AND legitimate entities with agendas. Propaganda is propaganda, pure and simple.

Perhaps the lesson in this is to not take what you see or hear at face value, and to question, question, question, the source of information you choose to believe. That includes questioning the sources someone you truly want to believe re-states. Language matters. Vague references to "they" or "them" (i.e., "They want you to believe xyz, but believe me instead" or "I read somewhere that.." or "I heard them say that..." kind of indefinite rhetoric) should be red flags, regardless of the status of the person speaking, or the platform from which he/she is speaking. Source cite. Independently verify. And if you don't want to take the time to do that, then please don't repeat things you haven't scrutinized.

This issue is not going to go away. We cannot put technology back in Pandora's Box. The only defense is to take personal responsibility to independently establish what logically makes the most sense - and that is a weak defense, indeed, when the illogical so easily becomes mainstream by virtue of the number of people willing to believe/repeat/promote false narratives that they may not honestly know are false.

I thought this was important to bring to your attention, and if you agree, please share. Awareness is key.