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Spotting Deepfakes is not a cakewalk; its getting more complex by the minute.
There are good things, and then there are worse things you’re free to do with them.
What Are Deepfakes?
Put simply, they are fake media made with desktop or smartphone applications.
See how real it feels.
Fool or entertain people with these synthetic media.
How to Spot Deepfakes?
Not all deepfakes are created equal.
And therefore, not every technique works everywhere.
Skin Tone
This is the first thing to take note of.
Expressions
This is the major giveaway, especially when amateurs masquerade as deepfakes experts.
Their subpar creations often suffer from unnatural lip movement without human pauses helping to identify them as fake.
Look at thisdeepfake video of Volodymyr Zelenskyfor instance.
However, some algorithms do have provisions for breathing pauses.
Likewise, blinking is another area that reveals deepfakes as such.
Another thing it’s possible for you to use to spot deepfakes is the eyeball movement.
Patches
So, how to tell that that isnt the real Morgan Freeman?
The best thing about the preceding video is the high quality.
And the bigger the screen, the better.
Can you see the made-up skin?
This is where algorithms fail, the small details, no matter how sophisticated.
To reiterate, having the real one side-by-side makes it easy to tell apart the fake.
Details
There is a lot that goes on when we talk.
Besides, deepfake tech has yet to master the inside-the-mouth-visuals while talking.
For instance, you cant point out individual lower (mandibular) teeth in the Obama deepfake.
Besides, it’s possible for you to see the video itself isnt very clear.
Its very low quality, compressed to hide the reality or due to computing limitations.
Transitions
One limitation in deepfake creation is their frame-by-frame generation.
Every frame must be checked for perfect masking to keep the magic intact.
Because of this, most convincing deepfake videos are extremely limited in facial movements.
They only show frontal faces with no side views because the side-to-front transitions can reveal the creative bottlenecks.
These are arguably the most difficult part to conceal and the best ones to uncover such AI creations.
So, these are a few things that can help you to spot deepfakes and limit misinformation.
To summarize:
Deepfakes Arent Perfect!
While we only covered deepfake video, AI-created audio will suffer from similar restrictions.
And though machines are getting better as we speak of it, theyll always fall behind the living.
However, the learning isnt complete without you actually getting your hands dirty.
In that case, we have made this guide onwhat deepfakes are and how to create them.
