Deepfake satellite images pose serious military and political challenges

It's well established that deepfake images of people are problematic, but it's now clearer that bogus satellite imagery could also represent a threat. The Verge reports that University of Washington-led researchers have developed a way to generate deepfake satellite photography as part of an effort to detect manipulated images. The team used an AI algorithm to generate deepfakes by feeding the traits of learned satellite images into different base maps. They could use Tacoma's roads and building locations, for example (at top right in the picture below), but superimpose Beijing's taller buildings (bottom right) or Seattle's low-rises (bottom left). You can apply greenery, too. While the execution isn't flawless, it's close enough that scientists believe you might blame any oddities on low image quality.