Schneier- The Future of Forgeries

[Netwörkheäd]

The Future of Forgeries

This article argues that AI technologies will make image, audio, and video forgeries much easier in the future. Combined, the trajectory of cheap, high-quality media forgeries is worrying. At the current pace of progress, it may be as little as two or three years before realistic audio forgeries are good enough to fool the untrained ear, and only five or...
   
   

This article argues that AI technologies will make image, audio, and video forgeries much easier in the future.

Combined, the trajectory of cheap, high-quality media forgeries is worrying. At the current pace of progress, it may be as little as two or three years before realistic audio forgeries are good enough to fool the untrained ear, and only five or 10 years before forgeries can fool at least some types of forensic analysis. When tools for producing fake video perform at higher quality than today's CGI and are simultaneously available to untrained amateurs, these forgeries might comprise a large part of the information ecosystem. The growth in this technology will transform the meaning of evidence and truth in domains across journalism, government communications, testimony in criminal justice, and, of course, national security.

I am not worried about fooling the "untrained ear," and more worried about fooling forensic analysis. But there's an arms race here. Recording technologies will get more sophisticated, too, making their outputs harder to forge. Still, I agree that the advantage will go to the forgers and not the forgery detectors.

Source: The Future of Forgeries

[deanwebb]

Like Schneier, I'm not happy when I hear about methods that could defeat forensic analysis, as those methods themselves would have been developed by forensic experts.

[icecream-guy]

Timely thread, 


like so

https://boingboing.net/2017/07/17/fake-obama-speech-is-the-begin.html


http://www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-40598465/fake-obama-created-using-ai-tool-to-make-phoney-speeches

[deanwebb]

Exactly like that. And even without video, audio forgery can be a huge, huge deal, especially in states with one-party consent to conversation recording. Forge it, say that one party gave consent, then admit as evidence to get a slam-dunk in the case.