You may never have heard the term "synthetic media"-- more commonly known as "deepfakes"-- but our military, law enforcement and intelligence agencies certainly have. They are hyper-realistic video and audio recordings that use artificial intelligence and "deep" learning to create "fake" content or "deepfakes." The U.S. government has grown increasingly concerned about their potential to be used to spread disinformation and commit crimes. That's because the creators of deepfakes have the power to make people say or do anything, at least on our screens. As we first reported in October, most Americans have no idea how far the technology has come in just the last five years or the danger, disruption and opportunities that come with it.

You may never have heard the term "synthetic media"-- more commonly known as "deepfakes"-- but our military, law enforcement and intelligence agencies certainly have. They are hyper-realistic video and audio recordings that use artificial intelligence and "deep" learning to create "fake" content or "deepfakes." The U.S. government has grown increasingly concerned about their potential to be used to spread disinformation and commit crimes. That's because the creators of deepfakes have the power to make people say or do anything, at least on our screens. Most Americans have no idea how far the technology has come in just the last four years or the danger, disruption and opportunities that come with it.

A little-known band of doctors and hi-tech wizards say they were able to find the vital speed needed to attack the coronavirus: the computing power of artificial intelligence. They call their new weapon "outbreak science." It could change the way we fight another contagion. Already it has led to calls for an overhaul of how the federal government does things. It's a digital early warning system, and it was among the first to raise alarms about this lethal outbreak.