Facebook has developed a model to tell when a video is using a deepfake – and can even tell which algorithm was used to create it. The term "deepfake" refers to a video where artificial intelligence and deep learning – an algorithmic learning method used to train computers – has been used to make a person appear to say something they have not. Notable examples of deepfakes include a manipulated video of Richard Nixon's Apollo 11 presidential address and Barack Obama insulting Donald Trump – and although they are relatively benign now, experts suggest that they could be the most dangerous crime of the future. Detecting a deepfake relies on telling whether an image is real or not, but the amount of information available to researchers to do so can be limited – relying on potential input-output pairs or rely on hardware information that might not be available in the real world. Facebook's new process relies in detecting the unique patterns behind an artificially-intelligent model that could generate a deepfake.

From targeted phishing campaigns to new stalking methods: there are plenty of ways that artificial intelligence could be used to cause harm if it fell into the wrong hands. A team of researchers decided to rank the potential criminal applications that AI will have in the next 15 years, starting with those we should worry the most about. By using fake audio and video to impersonate another person, the technology can cause various types of harms, said the researchers. The threats range from discrediting public figures to influence public opinion, to extorting funds by impersonating someone's child or relatives over a video call. The ranking was put together after scientists from University College London (UCL) compiled a list of 20 AI-enabled crimes based on academic papers, news and popular culture, and got a few dozen experts to discuss the severity of each threat during a two-day seminar.

Deepfakes are the most dangerous form of crime through artificial intelligence, according to a new report from University College London. The term "deepfake" refers to a video where artificial intelligence and deep learning – an algorithmic learning method used to train computers – has been used to make a person appear to say something they have not. Notable examples of it include a manipulated video of Richard Nixon's Apollo 11 presidential address and Barack Obama insulting Donald Trump. The authors said that deepfake content is a danger for a number of reasons: a prominent one is that it would be difficult to find. This is because while deepfake detectors require training through hundreds of videos and must be victorious in every instance, malicious individuals only have to be successful once. A second reason is the variety of crimes deepfakes could be used for, such as discrediting a public figure by impersonating a family member.