Can Deepfakes Be Used for the Greater Good?

We live in a small world, a global village, so to speak. If you wanted to, you could log on to the web and, within minutes, be best friends with somebody from Reykjavik. Another tribal war in Kashmir? You’d definitely be in the know as soon as it happens. It is that easy.

So, could there possibly be a downside to all these advances in technology?

As a matter of fact, yes, there is. So, what’s the catch to these privileges we enjoy today?

We’ve got tons of media platforms today, and judging by how easy it is to find and consume content on there these days, these media platforms can be used for malicious purposes.

Not so long ago, people mostly relied on broadcasting networks (TV & Radio) and newspapers to get their content to the masses. Obviously, these traditional media came with huge budgets that were out of reach to most people.

This changed when social networks came into play. Today, content creators from all walks of life can post high-quality content online and reach millions of people worldwide.

But the story hardly ever stops there. With the advent of machine learning and artificial intelligence, improvements have been made to maximize the potential of media.

Enter the controversy that is deep fakes.

What Are Deep Fakes? 

Deep Fakes or synthetic media are photos, videos, or audio files manipulated by artificial intelligence (AI) in hard-to-detect ways. They include AI-generated music, text, image, video, and a whole lot more.

The whole point of this is simply passing on human creative abilities to machines so that we can do even less work. As in, why work yourself up when a machine can do it for you?

The new trend helps content creators create good content with little human involvement. Be that as it may, this technology has raised a few ethical concerns. People have been made to say things they didn’t say or appear in places they’ve never been by these AI-generated or AI-modified content.

In the context of the murky world of politics, the use of deep fakes to possibly lure voters to a preferred candidate could have disastrous implications. So, it is quite troubling that malicious parties could use deep fakes to pass on information that is simply not true.

Privacy, or our apparent lack of it, is another major issue brought about by deep fakes. For instance, we’ve had our share of incidents where facial images are collected and analyzed without the owner’s consent. It’s a stab in the back by the apps and websites we’ve entrusted with our personal information, who in turn sell this information to the highest bidder.

But not everything is always as it seems.

There are interesting, creative ways synthetic media can be applied to our day-to-day lives. Do you have a still photo you wish you could breathe some life into? How about that photo that would have been picture perfect if you hadn’t frowned as much?

Ethical Application of Deepfakes 

Brands, both big and small, are increasingly warming up to AI-Generated content. For some, it’s a matter of innovation and staying ahead of the competition. For others? Not so much. The field is simply the bane of their existence.

Either way, most of these brands tend to outsource this artificial-based technology from companies whose sole mission is to develop AI-Generated content ethically. The fact that this method of content generation saves time and resources doesn’t hurt matters much either.

So, How Can AI-Generated Content Be Used for Good? 

Using complex algorithms, it is now possible to animate people on still photos. This is hands down one of the best ways to revamp profile pictures, historical photos, and even rare family portraits into videos for a more authentic, livelier experience.

Also, it’s never been easier to change facial expressions in photos. Let’s face it, we’ve all got that one photo where we didn’t quite look the part. Well, AI-Generated technology makes it possible to play around with different emotions or to choose a predetermined mood.

The technology behind AI-modified content not only brings the faces in still photos alive but can also facilitate the creation of high-quality, realistic videos that accurately match a target’s facial expressions, movements, and even voice patterns.

All you will ever need to leverage this technology is just one photo uploaded onto the platform. The rest will fall into place. Synthetic media can also be used to protect our facial images from misuse by making them unrecognizable to unauthorized facial recognition software.

This goes a long way in preserving our privacy, which seems to be fading by the moment.

From helping avid movie fans star alongside celebrities, to its broader application in the advertising and education industries, it’s quite clear that AI-generated content has completely changed the way we create and consume content for the better.

Like everything else, AI-generated content can be used for both good and evil. It is up to us to take the necessary steps to ensure that this invention is used for good.