When the deepfake of the president tried to start a war

The Howie Severino Podcast

[AI Series Part 1] We first saw deepfakes as humorous memes, then as celebrity likenesses selling tacky products. But the deepfake of the president last month calling on the armed forces to take action against a foreign country demonstrated AI-driven deepfakes’ potential for real danger. Deepfakes have been defined as video or audio manipulated with the help of AI to create hoaxes. But they’re now also considered an advanced form of disinformation with often malicious intent. Our podcast guest Jeffrey Dy is the government’s undersecretary for Information and Communications Technology. He describes the response of the government to the deepfake president’s order to the military (the deepfake was taken down by YouTube after a few hours and monitored automatically for any reappearance). He says that the country will need 300,000 cybersecurity professionals to handle the wave of deepfakes and other cyber threats on the horizon. Producer: Aubrey Delos Reyes Researcher: Lilian Tiburcio Editor: Jayr Magtoto