Every day we watch videos on various platforms, but we rarely think about how real they are. A few years ago, we wouldn't have even considered this question. Videos and recordings were a reflection of reality and truth. Today, however, we cannot rely on this fact.
The number of ways to entertain yourself online using apps has grown rapidly in recent years. Recently, so-called deepfakes have become very popular. This is a relatively new term that has been in our vocabulary since around 2017. According to the dictionary, we can also define this term as a fake video. Deepfake is a technology based on artificial intelligence that allows us to insert our face or voice (or that of any other person) into a video. Most often, these are apps that can create completely new and unique videos based on a database of photos (which we provide). However, it is not just image applications; deepfakes can also be based on voice modulators, where such an application perfectly imitates a person's voice based on an existing recording. It is then very difficult to distinguish reality from a produced deepfake. Applications that are capable of this are spreading across the internet and are accessible to almost everyone. As long as they were used for entertainment, their existence seemed quite innocent, but gradually the use of these applications became dangerous and ceased to serve as entertainment.
So how did deepfakes start to be used in a negative way? Primarily to create fake news, i.e., false reports. With deepfakes, it is no problem to borrow the face and voice of any politician or famous person, enter what they should say and in what situation, and a new sensation is born. Such misleading reports reach people and spread. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has also fallen victim to such deception, appearing in this video commenting on the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The president quickly responded to this fraudulent video and called it a lie. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also been targeted by a similar fake video. These are not just videos spreading fake news, but also videos where people are "inserted" into embarrassing situations, which can cause them public humiliation. This problem does not only affect famous people, it can affect any of us.
However, deepfakes have also made their way into the business world, where company owners and executives are being deceived. Using deepfakes, fraudsters lure money out of them and thus rob the company of considerable assets. A similar case recently emerged involving a company based abroad and its subsidiary in Slovakia. The fraudster used a deepfake app to impersonate the company's executive and called the financial director at the Slovak branch. Using a voice modulator, he convinced her that he had to make an important transaction in Asia and needed her to send him money. After an hour and a half of conversation, the financial director finally made the transfer. As she did not suspect any fraud, it took some time before she mentioned it to the other managing director and the investigation began. Since the money had already been sent, it was not possible to freeze it in the account. However, a certain amount was recovered from other accounts.
This case is an example of how easily fraudsters can use artificial intelligence to deceive and steal from businesses. This case is just one of the few that we know of. Since this technology is relatively easy to access and the method of fraud is simple, it is possible that such cases will increase in the future.
What should you do if you find yourself in such a situation?
1. Contact a lawyer – ideally one with contacts in the country where the money was sent.
2. Contact your bank and file a "complaint," trying to stop the money while it is still in the country where you are located.
3. Contact the police.
4. Contact the FSJ (Financial Intelligence Unit).
5. Through a foreign lawyer, contact the foreign bank, which will then take steps to stop the money so that it cannot be manipulated.
6. Of course, it is necessary to file a criminal complaint in the country where the money is headed.
These steps are not an exact guide to resolving your situation, but they can give you an idea of who to contact and how to proceed. Of course, caution is always the first priority, which mainly consists of verifying the person in question to prevent such or similar situations from occurring.
The question remains how to avoid such situations and how to detect them. Deepfakes are not only a threat to commercial companies, but can also significantly influence the community and the general public, as well as opinions and individual views. Several companies, such as Google, Microsoft, and Facebook, have already addressed the issue of how to detect deepfakes. They have created an algorithm for recognizing deepfake videos (also based on artificial intelligence). They provided this algorithm with a database of deepfake videos so that it could recognize basic features and detect fraudulent videos. The development of artificial intelligence is constantly advancing, and with it comes the concern of whether such an algorithm will be functional in the long term. At least in the case of photographs, consideration is being given to a so-called hidden digital signature, which could be used to verify whether a photograph has been edited. However, many people believe that such a solution should not remain exclusively in the hands of giant platforms. In the short term, this is fine, but in the long term, it would be advisable to solve this problem primarily through legislation. Laws regulating this area will be necessary in the future. Currently, startups (such as Truepic or Deetrace) are emerging on the market that offer software to protect against deepfakes. One option would be to completely ban the use of these technologies. However, in the current situation and stage of development, this is no longer possible.
Deepfakes also have various positive aspects and uses. They are not exclusively a tool for entertainment for the general public; video game and animated film creators can use this technology to create more realistic characters, for example. At the same time, they can be a great tool in art. We have often seen performances by artists who are no longer alive, thanks to artificial intelligence and similar technologies. Such performances may become a reality in the future. They can also be used in healthcare, crime scene reconstruction, and even in the fashion industry. Their use is truly wide-ranging and can bring great benefits, but regulation will be essential.
Development is moving forward inexorably. We see it at every turn and every single day. Deepfake videos and recordings are just proof of how far technology and the development of artificial intelligence have come and can go. As society is not sufficiently prepared for this type of technology (neither legislatively nor morally), it is essential to be cautious and verify all, or at least most, of the information that comes your way. Not everything we see and hear on the internet is necessarily true.
