Blockchain Might Be a Silver Bullet for Fighting Deepfakes

Publié le by Cointele | Publié le

In an era of scams and fake news, so-called "Deepfakes" are the latest assault on our relationship with reality.

If you're unfamiliar, deepfakes are videos generated with help from artificial intelligence that show a recognizable figure saying things that they've never actually said.

By putting false words in the mouths of prominent, powerful people, deepfakes are a perceived threat purportedly true information.

If there's one thing we know about blockchain, the database technology that props up popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, we know that it excels at verifying and confirming what is real.

Did Alice actually send Bob $100 of crypto? That's an easy confirmation to make with access to an open blockchain.

Now a 72-page report issued by Witness Media Lab goes in depth on the tools that stand a chance to push back against the threat of deepfakes, and blockchain is one of them.

In other words, blockchain can verify source media against copycats or outright manipulations the same way it verifies crypto transactions.

The report cites media forensics expert Hany Farid saying that any finished blockchain solution for fighting deepfakes is still years away due to the complexity involved here.

Blockchains are still vulnerable to sophisticated attacks against their governance structures, or the notorious 51% attacks that have caused problems for the crypto community in the past.

At a time when deepfake technology seems to only be improving, it's good to know that we have tools left in our figurative toolbelt for pushing back against them.

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