The digitally face-swapped videos known as deepfakes aren’t going anywhere, but if platforms want to be able to keep an eye on them, they need to fi

Facebook’s ‘Deepfake Detection Challenge’ yields promising results

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2020-06-12 18:05:36

The digitally face-swapped videos known as deepfakes aren’t going anywhere, but if platforms want to be able to keep an eye on them, they need to find them first. Doing so was the object of Facebook’s “Deepfake Detection Challenge,” launched last year. After months of competition the winners have emerged, and they’re… better than guessing. It’s a start!

Since their emergence in the last year or two, deepfakes have advanced from niche toy created for AI conferences to easily downloaded software that anyone can use to create convincing fake video of public figures.

“I’ve downloaded deepfake generators that you just double click and they run on a Windows box — there’s nothing like that for detection,” said Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer in a call with press.

This is likely to be the first election year where malicious actors attempt to influence the political conversation using fake videos of candidates generated in this fashion. Given Facebook’s precarious position in public opinion, it’s very much in their interest to get out in front of this.