The Dark Art Of Deepfake: How This Height Of Manipulation Can Even Make Mona Lisa Frown

An early warning had come with a Buzzfeed video from 2018, where former US President Barack Obama is saying something...but wait, he isn바카라�t saying it! It바카라�s somebody else who pulls off the digital mask half-way through. But not just you or I, even Obama could have been fooled. It simply looks that real. Which means, AI-enabled computer technology has got to the point where you can make anyone바카라�s digital alter-ego say anything! Now imagine this: a video purportedly of Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Rahul Gandhi with things they didn바카라�t say. Or of Imran Khan, or a Pakistani general! Or, for that matter, P. Chidambaram or D.K. Shivakumar, or an app­rover. Or just the girl who lives down the lane who had recently spurned a boy from the neighbourhood...we are perhaps sitting on a time-bomb here. Yes, adv­anced technology can det­ect the fake, but what good would that be if war or a riot has already broken out, or someone has already killed herself?

There바카라�s always that riddle: with reality itself so dark and bizarre, what use do we have for fakery? This question used to be once asked of art, but those were more innocent days. The building blocks of reality had a certain rock-solid aspect바카라�everyone agreed, at least for form바카라�s sake, that the 바카라�truth바카라� was paramount. (Philosophers disagreed only on what the damn thing was!) But now we are stepping into a dystopia whose exact shape we can바카라�t trace with our hands or our eyes, ears or minds바카라�our sense-making apparatus. So form-shifting and malleable it is. It바카라�s almost as if 바카라�fake바카라� is now a part of 바카라�real바카라�바카라�a bit like night was part of Faiz바카라�s dawn. Its job is to unsettle us so thoroughly from our everyday empirical truths that we don바카라�t even know what바카라�s what anymore. And technology is keeping pace with this new, diabolical need. The latest in the arsenal has an unsettling name too: deepfakes. The Chinese didn바카라�t invent it, but only created an app that makes creating deepfake videos ridiculously simple. And make no mistake, it바카라�s coming home to you.

The demos of it how it works runs the gamut of human ­affairs바카라�from politics to pornography, further reducing the distance between those two. The presence of technological magic in politics is nothing new. Just this March, after a few years of everyone playing coy, social media giants operating in India agreed to a 바카라�Voluntary Code of Ethics for the General Elections 2019바카라�, after meetings with the Election Commis­sion. The likes of Google, Facebook and Twitter made honourable mention of how they were committed to 바카라�increase confidence in the electoral process바카라�바카라�a tacit admission, if any, of manipulation via mis­information. That code was valid during the period of Lok Sabha elections; an updated one may be necessary with elections never far away, bec­ause the beast is evolving.

In a globalised world, ­parallels are easy because technology바카라�and technological victimhood바카라�­connects us all. With a President in place who makes real appear fake and vice-versa, the US goes to the polls next year with a clear memory of the ­previous one. And how all the talk then, bolstered later, was about pervasive Russian meddling through news/social media man­i­pulation. The fears are back; the modus ­operandi is expected to be more sophi­sticated though. No ­wonder, in mid-July, the US House of Representatives intelligence committee chairman Adam Schiff wrote to social media companies about a new threat in poll season: Deepfake.

So what exactly is this new mutant beast? Well, the earlier editions of fake news and misinformation as such were in ­textual form, taking up space as text-forwards on WhatsApp and websites dedicated to its amplification on social media. Images, on the other hand, had that other allure: lulling us with that old adage, 바카라�seeing is believing바카라�. But the wave soon washed over that realm, with morphed photos, evolving into memes and the kind along the way. Videos were still seen to be inviolable, though. How do you simulate an entire moving ­ensemble of interconnected images? So, for a long time now, 바카라�I바카라�ve seen the video바카라� was the same as saying 바카라�I know it ­happened바카라�. Well, no more. If 바카라�fake news바카라� was the Collins Word of the Year for 2017, one could do worse than bet on 바카라�deepfake바카라� winning it in the near future.

How did the word come about? You probably remember Deep Thought and Deep Blue, the IBM chess machines that beat grandmasters (the latter even Kasparov). A phrase of 1980s vintage, 바카라�deep learning바카라� came from that same edgy world of AI. But now, as that phrase forms a portmanteau with 바카라�fake바카라�, we바카라�re really being pushed off the deep end. The deepfake phenomenon is already laying siege to the West and slowly creeping into our internet spaces바카라�it바카라�s a simple Google search away. Porn is often the pioneering realm. Mrdeepfakes.com is a website that (self-admittedly) dedicates itself to ­videos with the faces of celebrities superimposed on ­pornographic actors. Emma Watson, the most popular celebrity on the website, has over a hundred fake porn videos to her name there. However, out of the top 10 most-viewed videos on the website, five are of Indian actresses like Aishwarya Rai, Kareena Kapoor, Tamannah Bhatia and Sonakshi Sinha.

A bit of snooping reveals the website is hosted in Amsterdam and that there are over 150 videos of Indian actresses already on the platform. It바카라�s forgery, plain and simple, and a clear ­violation of an individual바카라�s privacy (besides partaking of the essential misogyny of a lot of porn). Yes, with a name like Mrdeepfakes.com, a URL that hardly suggests they바카라�re real, users will know what they바카라�re in for if they wash up on its shores. But what happens when you get a video forward of the kind on WhatsApp? There바카라�s also the question of convention (yes, even in the world of fakes). While those forging clips abroad cite the original work in some cases, such exacting standards are quite clearly lacking closer home. What바카라�s also interesting is the quality of the videos. The ones made about a year ago were badly made, the ones being churned out now can easily fool the untrained, unsuspecting eye. In short, soon you must suspend belief, as a general rule, when it comes to videos. But think again of Indian social media, and the ­millions of newly recruited users바카라�mass gullibility was never more frighteningly at hand.

So what is it and how do they do it? The first instance of a deepfake video was uncovered in late 2017 when Motherboard reported on a Reddit user called 바카라�deepfakes바카라� who was since banned from the social media platform. The person picked up images and video footage of, say, a celebrity from all over the Web, and then, using tools from a free, open-source machine-­learning software library called TensorFlow, created a kind of digitally manipulable clay which could recreate that face in any desired fashion. These were then inserted, frame-by-frame, into videos that were already out there. What videos? Porn, of course. His unwitting patrons were soon awash with what looked like 바카라�celeb porn바카라�바카라�content that actually a ­manipulated celebrity face grafted onto the original faces. Manipulated so skilfully by the software that the celeb would seem to behave exactly the way the original actress in the video did, right down to replicating expressions, to a scarily unerring degree!

As for the deepfakes of Indian actresses, not all will pass a basic smell test even for the untrained eye. All it takes though is one breakthrough, a piece of code that can be replicated and built upon바카라�something science has invariably ­delivered. And we are close, believes Anand Sahay, ­co-founder and CEO of Xebia Global, a company that deals in digital transformation technology.

바카라�Here바카라�s my view. I think it바카라�s already here바카라�I don바카라�t think we have to wait. It was already happening, but it바카라�s just not in the news because those artificial intelligence models were not available,바카라� he says. A recent research paper by David Guera and Edward J. Delp of Purdue University, which put forward ways to detect deepfakes, pins the danger down to how easy it has become: 바카라�In recent months, a machine learning-based free software has made it easy to create believable face swaps in videos that leave few traces of manipulation바카라�. The ­democratisation of modern tools such as Tensorflow or Keras, ­coupled with the open accessibility of the recent technical ­literature and cheap access to compute infrastructure, have propelled this paradigm shift바카라�tampering images and videos, which used to be reserved to highly-trained professionals, have become a broadly accessible operation within reach of almost any individual with a computer.바카라�

Think very recent. Wasn바카라�t it just the other day that ­perhaps even you partook of the #FaceAppChallenge? For those living under a rock, this was all over the news with people on social media and even celebs (who probably stand the most to lose, more on that later) posting images of how they바카라�d look like when they grow old. Well, FaceApp walks essentially the same technological path as deepfakes. We바카라�re talking about deep learning sorcerer바카라�s tools here. One of them, autoencoders바카라�where the machine learns how you look and can then map it out afresh바카라�has been around since the 1980s, being used inter alia for image compression. The other, with the formidable name Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN), is an innovation of 2014 vintage that was called 바카라�the most interesting idea in the last 10 years in machine learning바카라�. As the name suggests, it바카라�s a model that can generate or produce content. FaceApp merely took an image you supplied and used these tools to give you a transformation based on parameters like age, ­gender and hairstyles. If you didn바카라�t hear of privacy fears then, think only of another app here that sounds, and behaves, similarly: FakeApp, a desktop application used to create deepfakes.

There was a time when every second of animated video cost thousands of dollars. Not anymore. Deepfakes cost under Rs 1 lakh a video, and coming down. 바카라�Once the model is trained, it will be open-sourced by some technologist. Other than that, there바카라�s no cost. It바카라�s becoming so scary바카라�with FakeApp, you can do it in minutes with an absolutely trained model, which is available,바카라� says Sahay. He바카라�s not being unduly alarmist. A cursory search on the open-source platform Github reveals over a hundred source codes to create deepfakes. FaceApp 바카라�is a Russian company so it바카라�s in the news, and it바카라�s perfected the art,바카라� says Sahay. 바카라�But that model is now available. If somebody has created a good one, it will be replicated soon.바카라�

Porn and politics will see the immediate impact, for obvious reasons, Sahay confirms. The former embraces technology faster than any industry. AI has been in porn much before journalists woke up to an AI anchor on Chinese television. 바카라�For a deepfake to happen, you have to remember you need enough snapshots of the person in social media or out in the public domain. You can바카라�t run the model without having multiple images of the person in question,바카라� Sahay explains. Celebs, therefore, make the cut easily. The average wo/man will be less affected because the algorithm doesn바카라�t have enough data in the form of available images to learn from and reproduce. 바카라�But once it reaches a certain level, it won바카라�t be easy to figure out: it will almost be seamless. Obviously, technology will be able to develop a forensic understanding of whether a video is fake, but for normal people, whatever damage has to happen will happen by the time forensic comes,바카라� he says.

In the Buzzfeed 바카라�Obama video바카라� from 2018, the former US president apparently says, presciently: 바카라�We바카라�re entering an era where our enemies can make it look like anyone is saying anything at any point in time, even if they would never say those things. So, for instance, they could have me say things like...how about this? Simply, President Trump is a total and complete dipshit.바카라� Forty seconds in, the video is split-screened, with comedian Jordan Peele saying the exact same lines바카라�a cute caution. Less than a year earlier, scientists at the University of Washington also worked on an Obama video and managed 바카라�turning audio clips into a realistic, lip-synced video of the person speaking those words.바카라�

Sahay says if you record for about 40 minutes, 바카라�I have all your syllables recorded. Now I simply have to give a desired input, and because I have your voice sample, I can create it with the same tonality; that same line will be spoken.바카라� Frankly, the hassle of putting a gun to someone바카라�s temple and asking them to repeat what you want is passe. Audio, video: ­technology has it all covered.

In politics, it바카라�s beginning to happen. Last year, the President of Gabon, Ali Bongo, travelled abroad for treatment. People close to him assured the media that he would make a New Year바카라�s address. Duly, a video of Bongo addressing the western African nation was released. The opposition was having none of it. The US magazine Mother Jones ­reported that cries of 바카라�deepfake바카라� by Bongo바카라�s primary rival Bruno Ben Moubamba led to Gabon바카라�s first attempted military coup in 55 years. It failed, but there was enough chaos. Experts in the West are still uns­ure if deepfakes were really a cause for a near-regime change. One could argue, though, that바카라�s precisely the purpose: enough confusion for the disbeliever and ammunition for the believer.

바카라�We access the internet via dodgy websites and WhatsApp groups. The problem will be acute in smaller towns and cities where if, say, a politician wants to target a particular community by putting out a video and instigate something. You bel­ieve the video because it suits your bias,바카라� says Sagar Kaul, CEO of Metafact, a fact-checker. A deepfake won바카라�t be broadcast as a sermon; that makes it easier to spot the fake.

Experts see developing economies more at risk. In India, a spate of lynchings has happened due to rumours spread on WhatsApp. While junior home minister G. Kishan Reddy den­ied any 바카라�common pattern바카라� to them while speaking in the Rajya Sabha on July 25, a hint lies in the fact that WhatsApp has assured of 바카라�prompt action바카라� on the traceablity of its messages. The same day, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said WhatsApp has close to 400 million users in India, about 80 per cent of the entire smartphone population. A fake video on an end-to-end encrypted platform is a scary thought.

Especially if its disguise is getting better. In December, Metafact바카라�s Kaul had told Outlook that their AI tools could ­debunk deepfakes. He had mentioned that a deepfake blinked a lot lesser than the average human, a clear sign. However, the technology has since improved. 바카라�We had some success ­initially, but the second generation took the eye blinks away,바카라� Kaul now confirms. 바카라�With the second generation, the tool can create artificial movements. We initially saw this only for big people because there바카라�s a lot of data on them out there and you could train the AI,바카라� he says. For detecting a deepfake, however, one has to go frame-by-frame바카라�바카라�an intensive job, though the creation itself is cheap.바카라�

Frames are where the game is. Several split-seconds of video spliced with the intended audio can trigger most folks at a time when vines and memes are a thing. In the US, the ­deepfake furore caught steam primarily because Trump has sent out campaign ­feelers for 2020. On May 24, he tweeted a video with the caption: 바카라�PELOSI STAMMERS THROUGH NEWS CONFERE­NCE바카라�. The video, heavily edited and put on air by a channel from the Fox stable, sought to establish that the House of Representa­tives speaker was inebriated. The Daily Beast tracked down its origin: a Facebook video posted by 34-year-old Trump fan David Brooks with the caption: 바카라�Is Pelosi drunk?바카라� The video was found to be doctored by simply slowing down the audio 바카라�without lowering the pitch of her voice.바카라� Yes, not quite a deepfake, just carefully doctored. Experts called it a 바카라�cheapfake바카라�.

The dangers are the same, says Tarun Wadhwa, entrepreneur and a visiting instructor at Carengie Mellon University. He also mentions 바카라�voice mimicry technologies바카라� that could be used to confuse, extort and scam people. Wadhwa says he바카라�s less concerned about a deepfake starting a war바카라�a few hits apart, he trusts the media to take over and do its job. 바카라�However, on a personal level, I바카라�m very worried forgery ­technologies are going to ruin relationships and reputations. I think about the lynchings in India and elsewhere on WhatsApp, where a rumour about a migrant in town would spread with some grainy footage, and that false information would lead to mob justice. I바카라�m worried about what we as ­individuals will do to each other when we have this at our ­disposal,바카라� he says. 바카라�My point is that in this sort of context, where it바카라�s one-to-one, or one-to-many, who바카라�s checking to see if the video is real?바카라�

AltNews has had its hands full with a myriad forgeries since its inception short of two years ago. Its co-founder Pratik Sinha tells Outlook he hasn바카라�t spotted a credible deepfake as yet, so is not 바카라�worried바카라� at the moment. Sinha agrees the tech will become problematic in the future, but cites a story the fact-checking website debunked on July 22. A video posted on Facebook seemed to suggest the Muslims of Agra were up in arms, sloganeering against PM Modi, the Bajrang Dal and the Shiv Sena over the mob-lynching of Tabrez Ansari in Jharkhand. The video was from a Moharram procession in Bihar in 2014, and the superimposed audio from a 2017 ­protest in Udaipur, in response to the infamous murder-on-video by Shambu Lal Regar. Sinha says such videos are capable of far more damage. And forged audio and obfuscation by ­confusion have been around for a bit. Who said 바카라�Bharat tere tukde tukde honge?바카라� Was it even said?

The AltNews experience shows India may still be embarking on the deep learning curve, but cyber law specialist Pavan Duggal says he바카라�s already had clients asking for rec­ourse after being subject to deepfakes. 바카라�No specific IPC provisions exist now, but Sections 468 and 469 (relating to forgery) could be app­lied,바카라� he adds. 바카라�There바카라�s a catch, though. At the end of the day, there바카라�s really no falsity vis-a-vis data inputs, no fakeness of that sort. A deepfake takes a couple or more sets of data inputs and merges them.바카라� The law should evolve, adds Duggal, because the existing sections don바카라�t cut the mustard and the 바카라�propensity of the general user to be persuaded by a deepfake is higher바카라�.

Apar Gupta, executive director, Internet Freedom Foundation, bel­ieves different IPC provisions can come in. 바카라�The video content itself will attract different legal provisions. It could be used for satire and other purposes, so we need to go case by case,바카라� he says. 바카라�But deepfakes can act as a persuasive tool even for relatively educated people. We바카라�ve not been trained to spot if a video is fake.바카라�

As with most technology, researchers are constantly ­trying different ways to get the cat back into the bag. Another defeatist argument is that 바카라�people believe what they want to believe anyway바카라� and that deepfakes are just another form of content. 바카라�That바카라�s a dangerous slope,바카라� says Wadhwa. 바카라�While everyone is free to have their opinion, when we no longer have a shared basis of information we agree upon, it becomes eventually impossible to have a ­discourse.바카라� On the other hand, isn바카라�t that true already?