Outsmarting Deepfake Video

In March 2022, a synthesized video of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared on various social media platforms and a national news website. In the video, Zelenskyy urges his people to surrender in their fight against Russia; however, the speaker is not Zelenskyy at all. The minute-long clip was a deepfake, a synthesized video produced via deep learning models, and the president soon posted a legitimate message reaffirming his nation's commitment to defending its land and people. The Ukrainian government already been had warning the public that state-sponsored deepfakes could be used as part of Russia's information warfare. The video itself was not particularly realistic or convincing, but the quality of deepfakes has been improving rapidly.