As much as I love a deepfake Anakin Skywalker, it might be wise to get more AI-focused firewalls in place prior to the next federal election.

Many have raised red flags around AI (artificial intelligence), with numerous tech types having signed a statement referring to it as one of our greatest existential threats.

香蕉视频直播淢itigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war,香蕉视频直播� reads the statement, shared by the Center for AI Safety.

I hadn香蕉视频直播檛 thought of deepfakes as being part of that threat, at least not I recently started seeing ads that didn香蕉视频直播檛 sit right.

Deepfakes use a type of AI to create imagery and audio. If you香蕉视频直播檙e a Star Wars fan like myself, you got a taste of deepfake AI in Gareth Edwards香蕉视频直播� movie Rogue One, where it was used to recreate the likenesses of the later Carrie Fisher and Peter Cushing. Continuing on that theme, I love comedian/impersonator Charlie Hopkinson香蕉视频直播檚 YouTube videos in which he critiques Star Wars films while deepfaked to look like disheveled characters from the movies (his Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi slay me).

Curiously, while watching these Hopkinson gems and other Internet content, I recently started seeing scam ads featuring likenesses of other real-life celebrities. One had Elon Musk rabbiting on about how you need to invest in, er, whatever. (Apparently, artificial Elons have been shilling get-rich schemes for a while now online.) Another scam circulating on social media features a deepfake of YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, aka Mr. Beast.

香蕉视频直播淟ots of people are getting this deepfake scam ad of me 香蕉视频直播� are social media platforms ready to handle the rise of AI deepfakes? This is a serious problem,香蕉视频直播� Donaldson commented on X (formerly Twitter).

Lots of people are getting this deepfake scam ad of me香蕉视频直播� are social media platforms ready to handle the rise of AI deepfakes? This is a serious problem

香蕉视频直播� MrBeast (@MrBeast)

Regardless of what you think of Mr. Beast, he is right; it is a serious problem, and not just in the threat it poses to celebrities. Deeper, darker deepfake concerns have been raised around exploitation and intimidation.

And then there香蕉视频直播檚 politics.

This week, the Canadian government香蕉视频直播檚 Communications Security Establishment (CSE) issued an alert stating 香蕉视频直播渃yber threat activity is more likely to happen in Canada香蕉视频直播檚 next federal election than in the past.香蕉视频直播�

香蕉视频直播淐yber threat actors are increasingly using generative artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance online disinformation. It香蕉视频直播檚 very likely that foreign adversaries or hacktivists will use generative AI to influence voters ahead of Canada香蕉视频直播檚 next federal election.香蕉视频直播�

Though the statement doesn香蕉视频直播檛 speak specifically to deepfake AI, it is an increasingly accessible tech tool that I wouldn香蕉视频直播檛 be surprised to see utilized to manipulate perceptions and sway voters one way or another.

And in a country where, according to a recent Leger poll, 11 per cent of us believe the earth is flat, those hacktivists don香蕉视频直播檛 exactly have their work cut out for them.

While CSE assures it香蕉视频直播檚 doing what it can to protect Canada香蕉视频直播檚 democratic process, the Canadian Bar Association argues criminal law doesn香蕉视频直播檛 go far enough to protect the public from harm posed by targeted deepfakes.

Unfortunately, technology advances quickly, and unless a concentrated effort is made to put necessary protections in place, we香蕉视频直播檙e soon going to find the line between reality and deepfake much more difficult to discern, let alone agree upon.

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