Deepfake technology could soon allow anyone to create Hollywood-quality visual effects

Deepfake technology could soon give anybody with a computer or phone the power of a Hollywood special effects department. In the next several years, technologists predict we will all be able to create photo-realistic videos and sound recordings using software enabled by artificial intelligence. That means instead of using cameras and microphones, next-generation "synthetic media'' will be completely generated by computers. Bill Whitaker looks at the state of the art today and volunteers as a guinea pig in an amazing deepfake transformation in which he becomes 30 years younger. The story will be broadcast on the next edition of 60 Minutes, Sunday, October 10 at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Nina Schick, a London-based researcher and political consultant was advising world leaders on Russian disinformation and election security when she first came across deepfakes. They have only gotten better since then. "The incredible thing about deepfakes and synthetic media is the pace of acceleration when it comes to the technology," Schick says. "By five to seven years, we are basically looking at a trajectory where any single creator -- so a YouTuber, a TikToker -- will be able to create the same level of visual effects that is only accessible to the most well-resourced Hollywood studio today." "It is without a doubt one of the most important revolutions in the future of human communication and perception.