Dartmouth Events

Abstract: Synthetic media -- so-called deep fakes -- have captured the imagination of some and struck fear in others. Although varied in their form and creation, deep fakes refer to text, image, audio, or video that has been automatically synthesized by a machine-learning system. Although deep fakes add to a long line of techniques for manipulating reality, their introduction poses new opportunities and risks because of the democratized access to what would have historically been the purview of Hollywood-style studios. I will provide an overview of how synthetic media is created, how it is being used and misused, and if and how it can be perceptually and forensically distinguished from reality.