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Deep Fakes and the Infocalypse: What You Urgently Need To Know
It will soon be impossible to tell what is real and what is fake.
Recent advances in AI mean that by scanning images of a person (for example using Facebook), a powerful machine learning system can create new video images and place them in scenarios and situations which never actually happened. When combined with powerful voice AI, the results are utterly convincing.
So-called 'Deep Fakes' are not only a real threat for democracy but they take the manipulation of voters to new levels. They will also affect ordinary people. This crisis of misinformation we are facing has been dubbed the 'Infocalypse'.
Using her expertise from working in the field, Nina Schick reveals shocking examples of Deep Fakery and explains the dangerous political consequences of the Infocalypse, both in terms of national security and what it means for public trust in politics. She also unveils what it means for us as individuals, how Deep Fakes will be used to intimidate and to silence, for revenge and fraud, and how unprepared governments and tech companies are.
As a political advisor to select technology firms, Schick tells us what we need to do to prepare and protect ourselves. Too often we build the cool technology and ignore what bad guys can do with it before we start playing catch-up. But when it comes to Deep Fakes, we urgently need to be on the front foot.
Recent advances in AI mean that by scanning images of a person (for example using Facebook), a powerful machine learning system can create new video images and place them in scenarios and situations which never actually happened. When combined with powerful voice AI, the results are utterly convincing.
So-called 'Deep Fakes' are not only a real threat for democracy but they take the manipulation of voters to new levels. They will also affect ordinary people. This crisis of misinformation we are facing has been dubbed the 'Infocalypse'.
Using her expertise from working in the field, Nina Schick reveals shocking examples of Deep Fakery and explains the dangerous political consequences of the Infocalypse, both in terms of national security and what it means for public trust in politics. She also unveils what it means for us as individuals, how Deep Fakes will be used to intimidate and to silence, for revenge and fraud, and how unprepared governments and tech companies are.
As a political advisor to select technology firms, Schick tells us what we need to do to prepare and protect ourselves. Too often we build the cool technology and ignore what bad guys can do with it before we start playing catch-up. But when it comes to Deep Fakes, we urgently need to be on the front foot.
164 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 26, 2020
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September 14, 2020
Although covering some crucially important topics, it was fairly evident that this was written in a rush. For the most part, the issues were glossed over. I feel this book could have benefited from a lot more research. That being said, it’s a competent enough introduction, and helps raise awareness. It’s likely that I was expecting something of greater depth, more akin to Zuboff’s phenomenal ‘Age of Surveillance Capitalism’. Guess I was looking for more original insights rather than an amalgamation, or summary, of current developments.
March 16, 2021
با گسترش دیپ فیک به مدد هوش مصنوعی دیگه به چشم خویش هم نمیشه اعتماد کرد
The quality of deepfakes is dramatically improving. Eventually, it will be impossible to distinguish fake from real content. Malicious actors around the world will fish in these murky waters – scamming, demeaning, and exploiting people and businesses. We must start protecting ourselves against disinformation, or we risk becoming victims of the Infocalypse.
People tend to use the terms “misinformation” and “disinformation” interchangeably. But there is an important difference. Misinformation is something that’s simply wrong, whereas disinformation is purposely intended to mislead people.
Photo, video, and audio manipulation have become easy thanks to AI.
AI - or artificial intelligence - is software that processes information through deep learning. It enables AI to make decisions autonomously, based on what it’s “learned” after crunching large amounts of data. The term “deepfake” is derived from this “deep learning,” plus – for obvious reasons – the word “fake.”
The first deepfakes showed how AI can swap a person’s face into an existing video. They were posted on the website Reddit by an anonymous user.
Before long, they were attracting some worrying attention. In late 2017, a journalist named Samantha Cole published an article called ,b>“AI-Assisted Fake Porn is Here, and We’re All Fucked.” Her story warned of a Reddit forum full of deepfake porn. Its founder used AI to swap the faces of Hollywood celebrities onto the bodies of porn stars.
Deepfake porn is non-consensual, deeply embarrassing, and demeaning. And it doesn’t matter how rich you are – there’s nothing you can do to wipe it off the internet. Even Scarlett Johansson, the highest-paid actress in Hollywood, couldn’t protect her own name from it.
The fake porn forum on Reddit was eventually taken down. But its creator shared the code that he’d used to make the deepfakes. Now, there’s a whole suite of free tools and software out there, open to anyone who wants to produce their own deepfakes.
Sounds horrifying, doesn’t it? But this is all just the tip of the iceberg. Deepfake technology is continuing to improve. Soon, it may become literally impossible to tell when an image, video, or audio clip is fake. This technology is already leading us down a dark path of mis- and disinformation.
Advice:
If you want to be prepared for the onslaught of deepfakes, you need to learn to recognize fake content. You can start by exploring what’s already out there. For example, visit the website thispersondoesnotexist.com. It uses AI to generate human faces that don’t actually exist. It’s astonishingly difficult to tell they’re fake – but this is what we’re up against in the Infocalypse.
Fighting the Infocalypse will involve both a reactive and a proactive approach.
When deepfakes become commonplace, it will be more important than ever to support credible journalism. And fact-checking services will become crucial. In the United States, these include Politifact, Snopes, and AP Fact Check. In Europe, there’s Fullfact, the BBC’s Reality Check, and the Agence France Presse Fact Check.
*Blinkist.com
The quality of deepfakes is dramatically improving. Eventually, it will be impossible to distinguish fake from real content. Malicious actors around the world will fish in these murky waters – scamming, demeaning, and exploiting people and businesses. We must start protecting ourselves against disinformation, or we risk becoming victims of the Infocalypse.
People tend to use the terms “misinformation” and “disinformation” interchangeably. But there is an important difference. Misinformation is something that’s simply wrong, whereas disinformation is purposely intended to mislead people.
Photo, video, and audio manipulation have become easy thanks to AI.
AI - or artificial intelligence - is software that processes information through deep learning. It enables AI to make decisions autonomously, based on what it’s “learned” after crunching large amounts of data. The term “deepfake” is derived from this “deep learning,” plus – for obvious reasons – the word “fake.”
The first deepfakes showed how AI can swap a person’s face into an existing video. They were posted on the website Reddit by an anonymous user.
Before long, they were attracting some worrying attention. In late 2017, a journalist named Samantha Cole published an article called ,b>“AI-Assisted Fake Porn is Here, and We’re All Fucked.” Her story warned of a Reddit forum full of deepfake porn. Its founder used AI to swap the faces of Hollywood celebrities onto the bodies of porn stars.
Deepfake porn is non-consensual, deeply embarrassing, and demeaning. And it doesn’t matter how rich you are – there’s nothing you can do to wipe it off the internet. Even Scarlett Johansson, the highest-paid actress in Hollywood, couldn’t protect her own name from it.
The fake porn forum on Reddit was eventually taken down. But its creator shared the code that he’d used to make the deepfakes. Now, there’s a whole suite of free tools and software out there, open to anyone who wants to produce their own deepfakes.
Sounds horrifying, doesn’t it? But this is all just the tip of the iceberg. Deepfake technology is continuing to improve. Soon, it may become literally impossible to tell when an image, video, or audio clip is fake. This technology is already leading us down a dark path of mis- and disinformation.
Advice:
If you want to be prepared for the onslaught of deepfakes, you need to learn to recognize fake content. You can start by exploring what’s already out there. For example, visit the website thispersondoesnotexist.com. It uses AI to generate human faces that don’t actually exist. It’s astonishingly difficult to tell they’re fake – but this is what we’re up against in the Infocalypse.
Fighting the Infocalypse will involve both a reactive and a proactive approach.
When deepfakes become commonplace, it will be more important than ever to support credible journalism. And fact-checking services will become crucial. In the United States, these include Politifact, Snopes, and AP Fact Check. In Europe, there’s Fullfact, the BBC’s Reality Check, and the Agence France Presse Fact Check.
*Blinkist.com
November 4, 2020
Really informative and easy to read. For me, what was missing was analysis into why these things are happening, rather than just stating that they are happening.
September 22, 2021
bit more general than i was hoping, but a good summary of the topic!
September 4, 2021
Timely, accesible, and informative when it comes to deep fakes, it is also sadly very superficial and vague when it attempts to build a larger case on the problem of the information ecosystem. Lumping several distinct problems into a vague catchphrase ('infocalypse!') is not very analytically useful.
The book amounts to a popular, journalistic description and explanation of what a threat deepfakes present, but offers very little on what to do about it.
But if you want to go deeper and learn more I can only suggest reading some philosophy papers like, for example, Regina Rini's "Deepfakes and the Epistemic Backstop" (https://quod.lib.umich.edu/p/phimp/35...) or Don Fallis' "The Epistemic Threat of Deepfakes" (https://link.springer.com/article/10.... ).
The book amounts to a popular, journalistic description and explanation of what a threat deepfakes present, but offers very little on what to do about it.
But if you want to go deeper and learn more I can only suggest reading some philosophy papers like, for example, Regina Rini's "Deepfakes and the Epistemic Backstop" (https://quod.lib.umich.edu/p/phimp/35...) or Don Fallis' "The Epistemic Threat of Deepfakes" (https://link.springer.com/article/10.... ).
June 29, 2021
Í eftirmála bókarinnar tekur Schick það fram að þessi bók hafi verið skrifuð í miklu flýti, og verður það frekar áberandi við lesturinn. Grunar að ástæðan fyrir því hafi verið svo að hægt væri að nýta covid-19 á meðan það er enn frekar ferskt umfjöllunarefni - þar sem einn kaflinn fjallar einmitt um covid-19 og falsupplýsingar um hann - til þess að auka sölur.
Vankantar bókarinnar eru að Schick leggur í raun afar lita áherslu á deepfakes og er sú litla umfjöllun sem hún fær afar yfirborðskennd. Hún virðist bara hafa tekið saman tíu eða svo fréttagreinar og endurskrifað þær í sínum eigin orðum án þess að bæta miklu við. Þetta þýðir að ef þú hefur pælt í deepfakes og mögulegum afleiðingum þeirra í meira en klukkutíma eða lesið þig eitthvað til um þær mun þessi bók ekki gera mikið fyrir þig.
Megináhersla bókarinnar er því þessi mikla upplýsingaóreiða sem Schick kallar: “infocalypse”, hugtak sem er upprunalega komið frá Aviv Ovadya. Bókin reynir að byggja ofan á spurningu Ovadya um hvort að það séu til efri þolmörk fyrir getu samfélaga til að takast á við falsupplýsingar. En hér fellur Schick í sömu gildru og með deepfake umfjöllunina, hún safnar bara saman fréttagreinum um falsupplýsingar og endurskrifar þær í sínum eigin orðum án þess að bæta miklu við. Í þessum hluta er líka afar klunnaleg skrif um internetið að finna. En það virðist bara vera almenn bölvun - frekar en klúður hjá Schick sjálfri - þessi vangeta bókmennta formsins til að tjá internetið á hæfan máta.
Eina áhugaverða sem er að finna í þessari bók, og ég vissi ekki af að einhverju leyti er umfjöllunin um tilraunir Eistlands til að berjast gegn Rússlandi í falsupplýsingastríði. Þannig ef þú ert búinn að fylgjast með fréttum í einhverju mæli síðastliðin ár, og þú hefur pælt eitthvað í falsupplýsingum og framtíð þeirra mun þessi bók líklega ekki gera mikið fyrir þig. Þessi bók virðist mun frekar vera inngangsrit fyrir eldra fólk sem hefur ekki jafn mikla innsýn inn í þær tækniþróannir sem hafa átt sér stað á síðustu árum og hvaða afleiðingar þær eru að hafa og gætu haft á samfélagið.
Vankantar bókarinnar eru að Schick leggur í raun afar lita áherslu á deepfakes og er sú litla umfjöllun sem hún fær afar yfirborðskennd. Hún virðist bara hafa tekið saman tíu eða svo fréttagreinar og endurskrifað þær í sínum eigin orðum án þess að bæta miklu við. Þetta þýðir að ef þú hefur pælt í deepfakes og mögulegum afleiðingum þeirra í meira en klukkutíma eða lesið þig eitthvað til um þær mun þessi bók ekki gera mikið fyrir þig.
Megináhersla bókarinnar er því þessi mikla upplýsingaóreiða sem Schick kallar: “infocalypse”, hugtak sem er upprunalega komið frá Aviv Ovadya. Bókin reynir að byggja ofan á spurningu Ovadya um hvort að það séu til efri þolmörk fyrir getu samfélaga til að takast á við falsupplýsingar. En hér fellur Schick í sömu gildru og með deepfake umfjöllunina, hún safnar bara saman fréttagreinum um falsupplýsingar og endurskrifar þær í sínum eigin orðum án þess að bæta miklu við. Í þessum hluta er líka afar klunnaleg skrif um internetið að finna. En það virðist bara vera almenn bölvun - frekar en klúður hjá Schick sjálfri - þessi vangeta bókmennta formsins til að tjá internetið á hæfan máta.
Eina áhugaverða sem er að finna í þessari bók, og ég vissi ekki af að einhverju leyti er umfjöllunin um tilraunir Eistlands til að berjast gegn Rússlandi í falsupplýsingastríði. Þannig ef þú ert búinn að fylgjast með fréttum í einhverju mæli síðastliðin ár, og þú hefur pælt eitthvað í falsupplýsingum og framtíð þeirra mun þessi bók líklega ekki gera mikið fyrir þig. Þessi bók virðist mun frekar vera inngangsrit fyrir eldra fólk sem hefur ekki jafn mikla innsýn inn í þær tækniþróannir sem hafa átt sér stað á síðustu árum og hvaða afleiðingar þær eru að hafa og gætu haft á samfélagið.
January 15, 2021
A truly disappointing read and a misleading title.
The author goes into great detail about "current" events, while not recognising the fact that any reader of the book will, by definition, be much more informed. Reading this after the Capitol fiasco and second Trump impeachment puts this into stark focus. The book's retelling of 2020 events seems a rushed addition to a book that was soon to go to press, with no real insight into these events apart from what is blatantly obvious.
The ostensible subject of the book - deepfake images - includes very little more information than what you can read from a Wikipedia entry.
There is so much that could be included but is absent... the history of fake images for political purposes beginning with 19/20th century wartime photography, psychological manipulation through selective cropping or photography, facial recognition systems and racial bias, pattern recognition through biometrics, the recent faking of large crowds by various political regimes around the world, the uncanny valley, the use and ethics of faked actors or personalities in movies, from JFK to Carrie Moss. These topics are either skimmed over in one or two brief paragraphs, or missing completely.
The overall impression is that there was an initial idea for a book which was railroaded at the late publication stages so there was an effort to shoehorn anything and everything 2020-related to make it "current". The final straw was the random re-definition of a "deepfake" as basically anything in the world that is intentionally wrong or misleading.
And face it, "inf***alypse" is never going to take off as a real word.
This book will age badly.
The author goes into great detail about "current" events, while not recognising the fact that any reader of the book will, by definition, be much more informed. Reading this after the Capitol fiasco and second Trump impeachment puts this into stark focus. The book's retelling of 2020 events seems a rushed addition to a book that was soon to go to press, with no real insight into these events apart from what is blatantly obvious.
The ostensible subject of the book - deepfake images - includes very little more information than what you can read from a Wikipedia entry.
There is so much that could be included but is absent... the history of fake images for political purposes beginning with 19/20th century wartime photography, psychological manipulation through selective cropping or photography, facial recognition systems and racial bias, pattern recognition through biometrics, the recent faking of large crowds by various political regimes around the world, the uncanny valley, the use and ethics of faked actors or personalities in movies, from JFK to Carrie Moss. These topics are either skimmed over in one or two brief paragraphs, or missing completely.
The overall impression is that there was an initial idea for a book which was railroaded at the late publication stages so there was an effort to shoehorn anything and everything 2020-related to make it "current". The final straw was the random re-definition of a "deepfake" as basically anything in the world that is intentionally wrong or misleading.
And face it, "inf***alypse" is never going to take off as a real word.
This book will age badly.
Read
September 26, 2020Fuck
September 1, 2020
The book seems very rushed, seemingly in line with the urgency of the information threat (for which I sympathise and added an extra star) and ends up being very short and incomplete. There also appears to be some attempts to force the information to fit the author’s hypothesis, which I would suggest is unnecessary not only in that there is no shortage of developments in this space to fit and bolster said hypothesis but also in that it damages the overall quality of the book. Given the topic, this is especially frustrating also, in that the information is given less credibility by its seeming forced and rushed in a time period and regarding a subject where credibility is so important. Nonetheless, a timely and necessary subject to cover, I only would have liked to have seen the author having taken more time (and care) in writing it.
December 6, 2020
Very timely and important book about dangers of the information ecosystem in which we all live. Author, an expert on the topic of how technology is reshaping politics, explains the existing mechanisms and gives many fascinating examples of dis- and misinformation from all over the world. Her writing is accessible and plain, so it isn't a book for specialists, but even if you are well acquainted with this subject you will find here many interesting facts. The book is so fresh that there is even an analysis of current COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, she doesn’t stop at describing the reality, she also predicts future trends and gives useful tools and resources to counteract.
Highly recommended for everyone who cares about the future of our societies.
Thanks to the publisher, Twelve Books, and NetGalley for the advance copy of this book.
Highly recommended for everyone who cares about the future of our societies.
Thanks to the publisher, Twelve Books, and NetGalley for the advance copy of this book.
November 22, 2020
“[It] is a slow process which we call either ideological subversion or “active measures.” […] what it basically means is to change the perception of reality of every American to such an extent that despite the abundance of information, no-one is able to come to sensible conclusions in the interest of defending themselves, their families, their community and their country.”
~ Yuri Bezmenov, KGB officer, 1984
Short, interesting read that gets you up to speed on deepfakes, which are sure to be front and center in our world soon. The term refers to any synthetic media used maliciously (particularly video). The technology is already here, and amateurs are able to better do in 2020 what Hollywood studios were not able to do in 2017.
There are several interesting digressions, particularly about Trump (his use of paralipsis, for example).
In sum, this is a description not a prescription, although there are hopeful notes at the end. Many companies are fact-checking in new and modern ways. There is a cat-and-mouse game afoot to devise ways to detect synthetic media before it becomes corrosive. The Estonians have been able to successfully defend themselves from the Russians with a dedication to technological superiority, as well as “psychological defenses” – meaning a sense of collectivism and shared values that seems unlikely in the near-term in the U.S.
Human history appears to be circular, although the circles are smaller (and more recent), and our memories shorter:
“In an ever-changing, incomprehensible world the masses had reached the point where they would, at the same time, believe everything and nothing, think that everything was possible and that nothing was true. ... Mass propaganda discovered that its audience was ready at all times to believe the worst, no matter how absurd, and did not particularly object to being deceived because it held every statement to be a lie anyhow.”
-Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism
~ Yuri Bezmenov, KGB officer, 1984
Short, interesting read that gets you up to speed on deepfakes, which are sure to be front and center in our world soon. The term refers to any synthetic media used maliciously (particularly video). The technology is already here, and amateurs are able to better do in 2020 what Hollywood studios were not able to do in 2017.
There are several interesting digressions, particularly about Trump (his use of paralipsis, for example).
In sum, this is a description not a prescription, although there are hopeful notes at the end. Many companies are fact-checking in new and modern ways. There is a cat-and-mouse game afoot to devise ways to detect synthetic media before it becomes corrosive. The Estonians have been able to successfully defend themselves from the Russians with a dedication to technological superiority, as well as “psychological defenses” – meaning a sense of collectivism and shared values that seems unlikely in the near-term in the U.S.
Human history appears to be circular, although the circles are smaller (and more recent), and our memories shorter:
“In an ever-changing, incomprehensible world the masses had reached the point where they would, at the same time, believe everything and nothing, think that everything was possible and that nothing was true. ... Mass propaganda discovered that its audience was ready at all times to believe the worst, no matter how absurd, and did not particularly object to being deceived because it held every statement to be a lie anyhow.”
-Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism
August 1, 2021
“We are still at the very start of the synthetic-media revolution. The ways in which it can be generated are rapidly improving."
The book plays out the development of ai through machine learning leading to the alarmingly fast development of Deep fakes. The ability for everyone to access open code, the prominence of websites including Reddit and the alarming rate of deep fakes used as revenge porn - 96% at the time of writing.
Interesting case studies were few, although the attempted coup in Gabon and deep fake porn websites were very interesting. Sadly this is where facts ended and the book spiralled into an opinion piece.
The overall content was disappointing. Between very informative breakdowns of the development and current status of deep fakes, were politically suggestive opinions as facts such as “Putin is one of the most dangerous men in the world” and constant efforts to discredit Russia and China. The reality is that these resources are available to everyone and I was expecting a much more diverse selection of case studies.
For the facts, the book is 5/5, but for the following shift in delivery, overall 2/5.
Thank you NetGalley for the Arc in return for an honest review.
The book plays out the development of ai through machine learning leading to the alarmingly fast development of Deep fakes. The ability for everyone to access open code, the prominence of websites including Reddit and the alarming rate of deep fakes used as revenge porn - 96% at the time of writing.
Interesting case studies were few, although the attempted coup in Gabon and deep fake porn websites were very interesting. Sadly this is where facts ended and the book spiralled into an opinion piece.
The overall content was disappointing. Between very informative breakdowns of the development and current status of deep fakes, were politically suggestive opinions as facts such as “Putin is one of the most dangerous men in the world” and constant efforts to discredit Russia and China. The reality is that these resources are available to everyone and I was expecting a much more diverse selection of case studies.
For the facts, the book is 5/5, but for the following shift in delivery, overall 2/5.
Thank you NetGalley for the Arc in return for an honest review.
May 9, 2021
really its a 3 star book but also I don't want goodreads to recommend me actual intellectual books.
October 21, 2020
Enlightening and terrifying at the same time. This world is becoming batshit crazy before our very eyes.
October 21, 2020
Absolutely essential reading
October 19, 2020
A complex subject made accessible, full review on my blog👍📚❤️
October 12, 2020
Thought provoking and eye opening.
A predictable surprise is upon us when it comes to our media consumption. How do we sort fact from fiction? Eye opening
A predictable surprise is upon us when it comes to our media consumption. How do we sort fact from fiction? Eye opening
January 23, 2021
This would make a good companion piece to Peter Pomerantsev’s excellent 2014 book ‘Nothing is True and Everything is Possible’, concerning as it does the destabilizing use of disinformation and propaganda that we have seen coming from Russia (in the main) for the past decade. A quote from a KGB defector which gets repeated a few times in Nina Schick’s book neatly sums up the tactic: “It is a slow process which we call either ideological subversion or ‘active measures’. What is basically means is to change the perception of reality of every American to such an extent that despite the abundance of information, no-one is able to come to sensible conclusions in the interest of defending themselves, their families, their community or their country.” As Schick notes, it is a tactic which is working perfectly. And with the huge advances in AI and the creation of synthetic media described so eloquently in ‘Deep Fakes’, things are inevitably going to get much more confused and much, much worse.
October 23, 2020
While the information conveyed in the book is interesting and informative, it seems like the author was trying to get everything out as quickly as possible, without explaining some of the thought process or possible issues to the fullest possible extent. Still, a good read to lead you to dig deeper and warn you of how easily one can be fooled.
March 4, 2021
Truly horrifying accounts of digital disinformation and information warfare. A lot of prominent people have been the victim of this technology. It's hard to fight against these in countries where majority of the people are uneducated and are ignorant of this technology. Welcome to Black Mirror folks!
October 30, 2020
I agree with some of the other reviews I've read here. I appreciated the explanation of the threat of cheap and deep fakes, but it felt like the book was a little rushed. I noticed a handful of mistakes that could've used better editing as well.
August 17, 2020
A nice book on infocalypse
The book is well organised and discuss in detail about fake news and deep fakes. Congratulations to Nina on this fantastic and needy book.
The book is well organised and discuss in detail about fake news and deep fakes. Congratulations to Nina on this fantastic and needy book.
Read
February 21, 2023Found through a podcast interviewing the author
January 15, 2024
Deep Fakes: The Coming Infocalypse, by reporter Nin Schick is an important call to address the increasingly dangerous threat of deep fakes to Democracy. The author conducted extensive research and included three pages of Resources, Endnotes, and Interviews to identify the sources. The term "Infocalypse" is noted as being coined by Aviv Ovadya in 2016, which is cited as well.
As a teacher-librarian, I was motivated to read this book to further my understanding of the technologies and make it easier for bad actors to create deep fakes and cheap fakes, so that I could incorporate this awareness into the lessons that my co-librarian and I create for our learners. I took many pages of notes in order to do so, and appreciate the explanations in language that I could understand. In other words, the author did a great job of succinctly explaining the technology and avoiding being too technical.
The technology of GAN is becoming superior to SCI and even SFX, due to open source apps, even since this book was published in 2020. The practice of face swaps, originally done for humor, have denigrated to be oppressive to people, in that bad actors are creating images that are difficult to trace and to remove, and it is very damaging.
The author relates the dangers of how easy it is to manipulate media with how dangerous it is to corrupt political messages and news. There are excellent examples throughout history, such as Operation Infection, Project Lakhta, and Operation Double Deceit. The author sites the dangers of populist leaders who are corroding the information ecosystem, and highlights the rhetorical devices used by former President Trump. An exploration of the rhetorical devices is something that I could incorporate into a presentation, but I would have to avoid attaching these manipulative techniques to one particular person or political party, in order to educate but not to show bias.
I will incorporate tips about how to identify deep fakes, how to check facts, and how to be aware of identifying reputable news versus intentional disruptors.
As a teacher-librarian, I was motivated to read this book to further my understanding of the technologies and make it easier for bad actors to create deep fakes and cheap fakes, so that I could incorporate this awareness into the lessons that my co-librarian and I create for our learners. I took many pages of notes in order to do so, and appreciate the explanations in language that I could understand. In other words, the author did a great job of succinctly explaining the technology and avoiding being too technical.
The technology of GAN is becoming superior to SCI and even SFX, due to open source apps, even since this book was published in 2020. The practice of face swaps, originally done for humor, have denigrated to be oppressive to people, in that bad actors are creating images that are difficult to trace and to remove, and it is very damaging.
The author relates the dangers of how easy it is to manipulate media with how dangerous it is to corrupt political messages and news. There are excellent examples throughout history, such as Operation Infection, Project Lakhta, and Operation Double Deceit. The author sites the dangers of populist leaders who are corroding the information ecosystem, and highlights the rhetorical devices used by former President Trump. An exploration of the rhetorical devices is something that I could incorporate into a presentation, but I would have to avoid attaching these manipulative techniques to one particular person or political party, in order to educate but not to show bias.
I will incorporate tips about how to identify deep fakes, how to check facts, and how to be aware of identifying reputable news versus intentional disruptors.
January 1, 2021
I think this is a book everyone should read, especially anyone engaging with social media or the media in general. Younger generations should be taught how information is manipulated to an extreme that decides political opinions, elections, actions and the landscape of how we receive and digest information.
More importantly when you replace the word information with facts, how facts have become a nostalgic concept of the last century and how we are now governed by fakes news, deep fakes and misinformation steered by those who seek to determine their own narratives at the expense of others and the truth.
'We now exist in an increasingly dangerous and untrustworthy information ecosystem' - absolutely true. So the question is how do we awaken those in denial to this situation and how do we combat it going forward. Even now, despite clear evidence to the contrary, people are unwilling to accept that they have been and are still being deceived by deep fakes to sway their opinions and votes for instance. Sharing memes, gifs, pics and articles, which are constructed for the majority by foreign entities, who choose to intervene in the politics for example for other countries to gain control and manipulate world events.
The example of Estonia vs Russia is used quite successfully by Schick to demonstrate what is going on. What is hard to comprehend is the unwillingness of other, more powerful and well-equipped countries to accept this reality and do something about it.
Perhaps it suits certain people too well, who are pulling their own strings behind the scenes. Cries of you are taking freedoms away, foundations of democracies are being threatened when you silence opposing views are heard, but that is an entirely separate issue. This is about power grabs. This an undercurrent of rebuilding what was lost and using doing so by any means possible.
*I received a courtesy copy*
More importantly when you replace the word information with facts, how facts have become a nostalgic concept of the last century and how we are now governed by fakes news, deep fakes and misinformation steered by those who seek to determine their own narratives at the expense of others and the truth.
'We now exist in an increasingly dangerous and untrustworthy information ecosystem' - absolutely true. So the question is how do we awaken those in denial to this situation and how do we combat it going forward. Even now, despite clear evidence to the contrary, people are unwilling to accept that they have been and are still being deceived by deep fakes to sway their opinions and votes for instance. Sharing memes, gifs, pics and articles, which are constructed for the majority by foreign entities, who choose to intervene in the politics for example for other countries to gain control and manipulate world events.
The example of Estonia vs Russia is used quite successfully by Schick to demonstrate what is going on. What is hard to comprehend is the unwillingness of other, more powerful and well-equipped countries to accept this reality and do something about it.
Perhaps it suits certain people too well, who are pulling their own strings behind the scenes. Cries of you are taking freedoms away, foundations of democracies are being threatened when you silence opposing views are heard, but that is an entirely separate issue. This is about power grabs. This an undercurrent of rebuilding what was lost and using doing so by any means possible.
*I received a courtesy copy*
March 8, 2021
From the original write up, "It will soon be impossible to tell what is real and what is fake.
Recent advances in AI mean that by scanning images of a person (for example using Facebook), a powerful machine learning system can create new video images and place them in scenarios and situations which never actually happened. When combined with powerful voice AI, the results are utterly convincing."
This is literally frightening. We've all seen the applications that you can put your face on a models body and the like. But when used for misinformation and not fun the results can be devastating to our democracy. Russia has been experimenting with misdirection and misinformation for decades and this just moves it down the road by miles.
Added to the concern of foreign interference in the information we see and hear before an election is the obvious misuse that will happen by the two big political parties and fringe parties who want to push their own agenda. Today you say, "I watched the video of him saying it" and be fairly certain it is factual, in another couple years you won't be able to tell. It won't be long until you will have to see and hear something live to know if it actually happened or not.
A.I. is an amazing advancement in many areas, medical, science, manufacturing but the other side of the sword is manipulation of the masses by presenting something that looks true but really is not. You can present "alternate facts" and make an argument that they are true....just look. This is going to impact news, politics and personal freedoms and opinions in negative ways to depths we don't truly understand yet.
If you want to know more about this, read this book. Read how it started, what is going on today and what we are on the verge of. It's a quick read and to the point.
Recent advances in AI mean that by scanning images of a person (for example using Facebook), a powerful machine learning system can create new video images and place them in scenarios and situations which never actually happened. When combined with powerful voice AI, the results are utterly convincing."
This is literally frightening. We've all seen the applications that you can put your face on a models body and the like. But when used for misinformation and not fun the results can be devastating to our democracy. Russia has been experimenting with misdirection and misinformation for decades and this just moves it down the road by miles.
Added to the concern of foreign interference in the information we see and hear before an election is the obvious misuse that will happen by the two big political parties and fringe parties who want to push their own agenda. Today you say, "I watched the video of him saying it" and be fairly certain it is factual, in another couple years you won't be able to tell. It won't be long until you will have to see and hear something live to know if it actually happened or not.
A.I. is an amazing advancement in many areas, medical, science, manufacturing but the other side of the sword is manipulation of the masses by presenting something that looks true but really is not. You can present "alternate facts" and make an argument that they are true....just look. This is going to impact news, politics and personal freedoms and opinions in negative ways to depths we don't truly understand yet.
If you want to know more about this, read this book. Read how it started, what is going on today and what we are on the verge of. It's a quick read and to the point.
March 1, 2022
I'm a producer. In fact, I produced a broadcast on media provenance with the author of this book. I should point-out that I had this book on hold before I started work on that show, so when I heard that Nina Schick was set to host the show, I was overjoyed!
I work in high-end video and media production for a living and am quite familiar with what the author calls, 'synthetic media'. I had no idea it was so widespread - or misleads so many people so easily with such dire consequences.
It's an important read, detailing the history and current state of deep-fakes at work today. Although it's a relatively new book, I have already seen deep-fake technology improve significantly since the book was published. It's shocking to see how easy it is to fabricate media in order to push an agenda - from something as benign as beauty filters on Tick Tock to make yourself look perfect, to the outright false news coming out of more extreme news organization such as OAN and Democracy Now!
Although it's a very balanced book, it does include a case-study on how Russian interference in the 2016 election using deep-fakes and false media helped to sway the scales in Trump's favor. I fear that this book will simply be discarded as liberal hysteria by the political right and, as a result, miss-out on the significant issue this book brings to light.
It seems rushed in places and could have been fleshed-out better in many ways. Some case-studies lack context that could improve the argument and phycological concepts needed further explanation and citation.
Other than that, it's a tremendous read.
I work in high-end video and media production for a living and am quite familiar with what the author calls, 'synthetic media'. I had no idea it was so widespread - or misleads so many people so easily with such dire consequences.
It's an important read, detailing the history and current state of deep-fakes at work today. Although it's a relatively new book, I have already seen deep-fake technology improve significantly since the book was published. It's shocking to see how easy it is to fabricate media in order to push an agenda - from something as benign as beauty filters on Tick Tock to make yourself look perfect, to the outright false news coming out of more extreme news organization such as OAN and Democracy Now!
Although it's a very balanced book, it does include a case-study on how Russian interference in the 2016 election using deep-fakes and false media helped to sway the scales in Trump's favor. I fear that this book will simply be discarded as liberal hysteria by the political right and, as a result, miss-out on the significant issue this book brings to light.
It seems rushed in places and could have been fleshed-out better in many ways. Some case-studies lack context that could improve the argument and phycological concepts needed further explanation and citation.
Other than that, it's a tremendous read.
December 17, 2020
A current snapshot of our world ravaged by disinformation campaigns. Deepfakes are the threat that looms on the horizon, while our societies and politics are already shaken enough by the power maliciously deployed simple text and images can have. We're not that far from the moment when we won't be able to discern the authenticity of video content anymore, and the tools to create fake videos will be cheap and widely available.
The book is not as deeply researched as hoped and feels like a rush editing job, but it's nonetheless a good and essential wakeup-call to a topic that's rapidly evolving and can only provide a deeply-researched book once we're past it possibly? There's a look at Russia's long history of doctoring media for political reasons, and the conspiracy theories they're creating to feed civil unrest in other democracies. There's slightly too much US election and Trump content, Estonia represents in a short note as the shining example of emerging stronger after a cyber-combat with Russia, and there's even a chapter on the recent Covid infodemic.
It ends on a chapter summarizing current initiatives and resources trying to teach, detect and combat disinformation campaigns and information warfare. It made me sign up to the NewsGuard misinformation Monitor newsletter.
The book is not as deeply researched as hoped and feels like a rush editing job, but it's nonetheless a good and essential wakeup-call to a topic that's rapidly evolving and can only provide a deeply-researched book once we're past it possibly? There's a look at Russia's long history of doctoring media for political reasons, and the conspiracy theories they're creating to feed civil unrest in other democracies. There's slightly too much US election and Trump content, Estonia represents in a short note as the shining example of emerging stronger after a cyber-combat with Russia, and there's even a chapter on the recent Covid infodemic.
It ends on a chapter summarizing current initiatives and resources trying to teach, detect and combat disinformation campaigns and information warfare. It made me sign up to the NewsGuard misinformation Monitor newsletter.
May 4, 2021
Great primer on the rise and pervasiveness of deepfakes. I appreciate the incorporation of a geopolitical lens on this issue and the multiple examples worldwide where deepfakes and misinformation has led to disastrous consequences. It really is more of a primer though and is written in plain-language for anyone that wants an introduction to the topic or is interested in fake news and manipulated media.
The book also contained summaries of Trump’s assault on the media, events like PizzaGate, and how other conspiracy theories have spread online.
I read this in conjunction with Masha Gessen’s “Surviving Autocracy”, and so the topics of both works complemented each other.
I also used this to aid me in a paper last month on the disproportionate attacks on women online via the use of deepfakes and how it perpetuates online violence against women. It’s certainly an issue that countries worldwide need to act quickly upon. Despite its prevalence and inordinate use against women online, there exists an unsettling lack of legislation or laws to tackle these online abuses, even in Canada. While academics, lawmakers, and activists are calling attention to these atrocities, governments have been too slow to enact suitable responses to protect the mothers, sisters, and daughters of the world.
The book also contained summaries of Trump’s assault on the media, events like PizzaGate, and how other conspiracy theories have spread online.
I read this in conjunction with Masha Gessen’s “Surviving Autocracy”, and so the topics of both works complemented each other.
I also used this to aid me in a paper last month on the disproportionate attacks on women online via the use of deepfakes and how it perpetuates online violence against women. It’s certainly an issue that countries worldwide need to act quickly upon. Despite its prevalence and inordinate use against women online, there exists an unsettling lack of legislation or laws to tackle these online abuses, even in Canada. While academics, lawmakers, and activists are calling attention to these atrocities, governments have been too slow to enact suitable responses to protect the mothers, sisters, and daughters of the world.
December 20, 2021
“A deepfake is a type of “synthetic media,” meaning media (including images, audio, and video) that is either manipulated or wholly generated by AI. The word “Infocalypse” was coined by the U.S. technologist Aviv Ovadya in 2016, when he used it to warn about how bad information was overwhelming society, asking whether there is a critical threshold at which society will no longer be able to cope.”
I think the title of the book is misleading when the majority of the book is essentially on disinformation, sprinkled with examples of deepfakes. The fact that she cannot trace the moment Infocalypse came into being as a political commentator/advisor specializing in how technology is reshaping politics furthers the mistrust of the media.
Notable mentions from Chapter 2 - RUSSIA: THE MASTER:
1) Operation Infektion
In July 1983, the Soviets planted a seed of disinformation in a Soviet-sponsored Indian newspaper, The Patriot. The article claim that the Pentagon created the AIDS virus as a biological weapon to kill blacks and gay men.
2) Project Lakhta
According to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, the Internet Research Agency (IRA) started its activities in the US in 2013, first cutting its teeth during the invasion of Ukraine in 2014. The Kremlin curated the existing divisions on social media to further orchestrate the racial divide in this country. The targeted campaign was executed from St. Petersburg as they recruited Americans to organize pro and anti-rallies to the runup of the 2016 Presidential election.
3) Operation Double Deceit
This campaign, similar to Project Lakhta, was outsourced to Ghana ahead of the 2020 presidential race. The IRA set up a fake NGO called EBLA (Eliminating Barriers to the Liberation of Africa.
I think the title of the book is misleading when the majority of the book is essentially on disinformation, sprinkled with examples of deepfakes. The fact that she cannot trace the moment Infocalypse came into being as a political commentator/advisor specializing in how technology is reshaping politics furthers the mistrust of the media.
Notable mentions from Chapter 2 - RUSSIA: THE MASTER:
1) Operation Infektion
In July 1983, the Soviets planted a seed of disinformation in a Soviet-sponsored Indian newspaper, The Patriot. The article claim that the Pentagon created the AIDS virus as a biological weapon to kill blacks and gay men.
2) Project Lakhta
According to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, the Internet Research Agency (IRA) started its activities in the US in 2013, first cutting its teeth during the invasion of Ukraine in 2014. The Kremlin curated the existing divisions on social media to further orchestrate the racial divide in this country. The targeted campaign was executed from St. Petersburg as they recruited Americans to organize pro and anti-rallies to the runup of the 2016 Presidential election.
3) Operation Double Deceit
This campaign, similar to Project Lakhta, was outsourced to Ghana ahead of the 2020 presidential race. The IRA set up a fake NGO called EBLA (Eliminating Barriers to the Liberation of Africa.
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