One Way To Tackle Deepfakes Is Critical Thinking, Says Internet Pioneer Vint Cerf

Till technology finds a way to trace their origins, one way to tackle the dangers of deepfakes could be to teach people to question motives, according to American internet pioneer Vint Cerf.

"...we as a society ... are getting to the point where we have tools that can mislead in ways that are hazardous," Cerf, regarded as the father of internet, said in an interview with NDTV's Vishnu Som. "And we need to figure out how do we hold parties accountable for bad behavior? How do we identify origins of things?"

He suggested one thing to teach everybody: critical thinking.

"It's using the wetware up here. Ask yourself, where did this come from? What's its purpose? Am I trying to be persuaded of something that I shouldn't be persuaded of?," Cerf said. "We should be thinking critically about what we see in here."

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, referring to a manipulated video showing him dancing, cautioned that deepfakes created by artificial intelligence can lead to a big crisis and stoke discontent in society, and urged the media to raise awareness about its misuse and educate people. That followed debate sparked by a deepfake video of actor Rashmika Mandanna.

Artificial intelligence should not be conflated with real human intelligence, Cerf said. "We are at the beginning of understanding how these systems work."

"AI has been a subject of research since the 1960s, but the more modern version of it is called neural networks with many, many layers... We will understand how these things work sufficiently to manage their peculiarities...," he said "It should not be conflated with real human intelligence."

Intellectual Property Concerns

Cerf cited the recent Indiana Jones to drive home concerns about intellectual property. The film used various special techniques, not deepfakes, to make the main actor look a little younger, he said. "But that doesn't make him younger, it just makes him appear to be younger."

"From purely entertainment point of view and protection of intellectual property and privacy, deepfakes are a potential hazard, Cerf said. "We have to work our way through what the intellectual property protection should be."

"I'm not sure what they are, but I can understand an actor or an actress or a writer wanting to maintain their ability to make a living."

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