Lampe: Deepfake is making it harder and harder to identify disinformation

The acceleration of artificial intelligence is gaining traction among hackers who are using the technology to create deepfakes. Disinformation, cloning and the spreading of conspiracy theories is becoming easier, and everyday people are using it to manipulate the public on social media. 

Most recently, reports Forbes, someone created a deepfake of Russian president Vladimir Putin. The risks of this technology are extreme, says Cliff Lampe, University of Michigan School of Information Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. 

"The deepfake technology is getting better all the time, so it's easy to project that videos of political leaders will be hard to trust in the future," Lampe says. 

The technology, he says, can also be used by politicians and leaders to cover up awkward situations, or cloud the truth. 

"It will also be easier for political leaders to claim that a video is a deepfake, avoiding video evidence of misdeeds," Lampe says. "The goal of disinformation is usually to muddy the waters of what is true or not, so the increased sophistication of these tools will be used in both directions for disinformation."

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Learn more about Cliff Lampe’s research interests and publications by visiting his faculty profile.