Deepfakes are now trying to change the course of war | CNN Business

Abstraction: Deepfake videos deployed as wartime disinformation during Ukraine conflict

Key points:

• A deepfake video of Zelensky appearing to order Ukrainian troops to surrender went viral in March 2022 during Russia's invasion; a separate fake showed Putin declaring peace
• Both videos were low-resolution and quickly debunked, but experts warn even low-quality deepfakes sow confusion during crises when critical thinking is impaired
• Deepfake detection remains an arms race: algorithms achieve 80-95% accuracy but are fooled as generation improves; Siwei Lyu's blink-detection method was defeated in under a month in 2018
• Researcher Wael Abd-Almageed warns: "Once this line is eroded, truth itself will not exist"
• Facebook/Meta removed the Zelensky video but critics call platform responses a "fig leaf"; researcher Lyu argues human bounty-hunter programs may ultimately outperform automated detection

Connections: Volodymyr Zelensky · Meta · Deepfakes · Disinformation · Synthetic Media

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/25/tech/deepfakes-disinformation-war/