Designed to Deceive: Do These People Look Real to You? (Published 2020)

Abstraction: GAN-generated fake faces misuse detection and societal risks

Key points:

• Sites like GeneratedPhotos sell fake AI faces for $2.99 each or $1,000 per 1,000; ThisPersonDoesNotExist.com provides them free
• GAN technology first appeared in 2014 and was immediately recognizable as fake; by 2020 it is nearly indistinguishable from real photos
• NYT created their own GAN-based face system using Nvidia's publicly available software
• Detection artifacts: asymmetric earrings, mismatched glasses frames, abstract blurry backgrounds, asymmetric ear indentations
• Fake faces weaponized by spies infiltrating intelligence communities, right-wing propagandists, and online harassers
• Studies show humans consistently make incorrect identifications when nudged by a computer, indicating over-trust in AI systems

Connections: Nvidia · Clearview AI · Generative Adversarial Networks · Deepfakes · Facial Recognition

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/21/science/artificial-intelligence-fake-people-faces.html