Help Me Hank: The fight against deepfake videos

DETROIT – Fake videos of political figures and celebrities have gone viral, highlighting the power and reach of deepfake videos.

Artificial intelligence is making it easier for people to create or alter video content so it looks like something that it was not originally. There are companies sounding the alarm regarding the ability these videos have to spread misinformation.

A video went viral online last month shows comedian Bill Hader morph into actor Tom Cruise. It shows how sophisticated and far-reaching deepfake content has become.

The stakes are higher than ever as America heads toward the 2020 presidential election. This is causing increasing concerns over the potential for deepfake videos to do harm.

The Pentagon is working with several large research institutions to get ahead of the videos.

Watch the video above for the full report from Local 4 News at 5.


About the Authors:

Hank Winchester is Local 4’s Consumer Investigative Reporter and the head of WDIV’s “Help Me Hank” Consumer Unit. Hank works to solve consumer complaints, reveal important recalls and track down thieves who have ripped off people in our community.

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.