Deepfakes and AI: Understanding the Technology and Its Implications
Deepfakes, a compound word fusing “deep learning” and “fake”, are swiftly pervading the digital realm, eliciting both intrigue and alarm among specialists and the wider public. As the progression of artificial intelligence (AI) technology forges ahead, the capacity to fabricate strikingly authentic yet wholly synthetic videos, images, and sounds has become more within reach. This article explores the technical underpinnings of deepfakes, their potential applications, and the serious implications they bear, encompassing both the beneficial and the detrimental.
To grasp the essence of deepfakes, it is paramount to understand the foundational technology that allows their creation — a branch of AI known as deep learning. Deep learning utilizes algorithms named artificial neural networks, which draw inspiration from the structure and function of the human brain, to identify patterns in data. Based on these patterns, it can make…
