Opinion | How the Pentagon will fight “deepfakes” – even deeper fakes

The United States has stepped up its efforts against “agents of chaos” in Iran, Russia, North Korea and China, using artificial intelligence-based software on social media to spread disinformation and sow discord, including influencing elections.

In September, in an election-related news conference held jointly by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, officials warned that “deepfakes” had become an “accelerator of malign influence.”

Last year, a joint statement by the FBI, the National Security Agency and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said: “Synthetic media such as deepfakes are a growing challenge for all technology users and modern communications”.

Its global proliferation, they argued, provided opportunities for malicious actors to use the technology to target US interests.

The Pentagon has a program to partner with the private sector to develop deep fake detection software to counter such online warfare by America’s adversaries.

So far, so good.