As much as I love a deepfake Anakin Skywalker, it might be wise to get more AI-focused firewalls in place prior to the next federal election.

Many have raised red flags around AI (artificial intelligence), with numerous tech types having signed a statement referring to it as one of our greatest existential threats.

91裸聊视频淢itigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war,91裸聊视频� reads the statement, shared by the Center for AI Safety.

I hadn91裸聊视频檛 thought of deepfakes as being part of that threat, at least not I recently started seeing ads that didn91裸聊视频檛 sit right.

Deepfakes use a type of AI to create imagery and audio. If you91裸聊视频檙e a Star Wars fan like myself, you got a taste of deepfake AI in Gareth Edwards91裸聊视频� movie Rogue One, where it was used to recreate the likenesses of the later Carrie Fisher and Peter Cushing. Continuing on that theme, I love comedian/impersonator Charlie Hopkinson91裸聊视频檚 YouTube videos in which he critiques Star Wars films while deepfaked to look like disheveled characters from the movies (his Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi slay me).

Curiously, while watching these Hopkinson gems and other Internet content, I recently started seeing scam ads featuring likenesses of other real-life celebrities. One had Elon Musk rabbiting on about how you need to invest in, er, whatever. (Apparently, artificial Elons have been shilling get-rich schemes for a while now online.) Another scam circulating on social media features a deepfake of YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, aka Mr. Beast.

91裸聊视频淟ots of people are getting this deepfake scam ad of me 91裸聊视频� are social media platforms ready to handle the rise of AI deepfakes? This is a serious problem,91裸聊视频� Donaldson commented on X (formerly Twitter).

Lots of people are getting this deepfake scam ad of me91裸聊视频� are social media platforms ready to handle the rise of AI deepfakes? This is a serious problem

91裸聊视频� MrBeast (@MrBeast)

Regardless of what you think of Mr. Beast, he is right; it is a serious problem, and not just in the threat it poses to celebrities. Deeper, darker deepfake concerns have been raised around exploitation and intimidation.

And then there91裸聊视频檚 politics.

This week, the Canadian government91裸聊视频檚 Communications Security Establishment (CSE) issued an alert stating 91裸聊视频渃yber threat activity is more likely to happen in Canada91裸聊视频檚 next federal election than in the past.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淐yber threat actors are increasingly using generative artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance online disinformation. It91裸聊视频檚 very likely that foreign adversaries or hacktivists will use generative AI to influence voters ahead of Canada91裸聊视频檚 next federal election.91裸聊视频�

Though the statement doesn91裸聊视频檛 speak specifically to deepfake AI, it is an increasingly accessible tech tool that I wouldn91裸聊视频檛 be surprised to see utilized to manipulate perceptions and sway voters one way or another.

And in a country where, according to a recent Leger poll, 11 per cent of us believe the earth is flat, those hacktivists don91裸聊视频檛 exactly have their work cut out for them.

While CSE assures it91裸聊视频檚 doing what it can to protect Canada91裸聊视频檚 democratic process, the Canadian Bar Association argues criminal law doesn91裸聊视频檛 go far enough to protect the public from harm posed by targeted deepfakes.

Unfortunately, technology advances quickly, and unless a concentrated effort is made to put necessary protections in place, we91裸聊视频檙e soon going to find the line between reality and deepfake much more difficult to discern, let alone agree upon.

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