Deepfakes Are Everywhere. What Can We Do?
from Science Friday Hosted by Dee Peterschmidt, Flora Lichtman
Deepfakes have been everywhere lately, from fake AI images of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro following his (real) capture by the United States, to X’s Grok AI generating nonconsensual images of real people in states of undress. And if you missed all that, you've almost certainly had your own deepfake close encounter in your feed: maybe rabbits bouncing on a trampoline or an unlikely animal friendship that seems a little too good to be true. Deepfakes have moved beyond the realm of novelty, and it’s more difficult than ever to know what is actually real online. So how did we get here and what is there, if anything, to do about it? Joining Host Flora Lichtman are Hany Farid, who’s studied digital forensics and how we relate to AI for over 25 years, and Sam Cole, a journalist at 404 Media who’s covered deepfakes and their impact since 2017. Guests: Dr. Hany Farid is a professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences at University of California, Berkeley. Sam Cole is a journalist at 404 Media, based in New York, NY Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Follow us on socials @ scifri on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Bluesky and sign up for our newsletters. Got a science question that’s keeping you up at night? Call us: 877-472-4374
Embed this episode
What this episode covers
X’s AI chatbot Grok is undressing users, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg with fake imagery online. How does it work and what comes next?
No transcript yet.