Political world braces for the next generation of fake news

The issue was thrust into the national spotlight last month when Buzzfeed partnered with the filmmaker Jordan Peele to create a video of former President Barack Obama appearing to deliver a public service announcement about the potential impact of manipulated media. Instead it was Peele's impersonation of Obama, synced well enough with the former president's lips to keep viewers open to the possibility it could be authentic until the message itself became a clear parody. A casual observer could be forgiven at first for mistaking the video for a genuine presidential message, especially if watching on a mobile device. A closer look is less impressive, but it may not be long before the signs of tampering become nearly impossible to pick up with the untrained eye. Hany Farid, a digital forensics expert at Dartmouth College, said there has been a "startling improvement" over the past year in technology creating "deep fakes," the artificial intelligence that allows users to swap people's faces with relative ease.