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Tag: shallowfake

  • Qualcomm Fighting Misinformation With Photo Validation Tool

    Qualcomm Fighting Misinformation With Photo Validation Tool

    Qualcomm is the latest company to tackle misinformation, announcing a tool designed to ensure the validity of photos and videos.

    Shallowfakes (photos manipulated through traditional means) and deepfakes (photos manipulated with AI) are a growing concern for researchers, tech giants, security experts and politicians. A single photo or videos manipulated to portray someone in a compromising position, or saying something inflammatory, can have profound repercussions.

    Qualcomm is the latest company to tackle the problem, teaming up with Truepic. Most digital images contain metadata, such as the time the photo was taken and the location where it was taken. Normally, this metadata is relatively easy to edit and change, either via the camera’s settings or with a third-party application after the picture is taken. Truepic’s software makes it harder to modify the metadata, thereby protecting the integrity of the media.

    Qualcomm plans to embed Truepic’s software in its smartphone chips. According to NBC News, “the feature enables a ‘secure’ photo capture mode within a device’s native camera app to sit alongside other modes such as portrait, slow motion and time-lapse. The mode allows users to take a photo that has a digital signature to prove its provenance, including the pixels that were captured in the original image and where and when the photo was taken.”

    By partnering with Qualcomm, one of the largest smartphone chipmakers, this deal is a huge win for Truepic. Thanks to Qualcomm’s reach, the technology will hopefully have a meaningful impact in the fight against shallow and deepfakes.

  • Microsoft Releases Tool to Combat Deepfakes

    Microsoft Releases Tool to Combat Deepfakes

    Microsoft has unveiled a new tool designed to help fight deepfakes in real-time.

    ‘Deepfake’ is a term used to describe photos or video that have been altered by artificial intelligence (AI). This is in contrast to so-called ‘shallowfakes,’ or media that is altered using traditional methods and software. As the technology continues to evolve and improve, it will become increasingly difficult to identify a deepfake—much harder than identifying shallowfakes.

    Security experts have been warning that deepfakes will begin to have major ramifications across all aspects of business, politics and life in general. A deepfake released at the right moment could have profound implications on an election, ruin a person’s career or make a person vulnerable to blackmail. As a result, companies have been scrambling to come up with ways to reliably identify altered photos and videos.

    Microsoft’s latest effort, Microsoft Video Authenticator, is a major step in that direction. Video Authenticator is designed to “analyze a still photo or video to provide a percentage chance, or confidence score, that the media is artificially manipulated,” write Tom Burt, Corporate Vice President of Customer Security & Trust and Eric Horvitz, Chief Scientific Officer.

    Microsoft Video Authenticator - Image Credit Microsoft

    When analyzing videos, the software is able to score each frame in real-time by looking at elements the naked eye cannot see, such as blending boundaries, fading and greyscale elements.

    It’s safe to say that deepfakes will likely be the next digital arms race between those trying to promote them and those working to identify and fight against them. Fortunately, companies like Microsoft are pulling out all the stops to stay ahead of the threat.