deepfakes

The Guardian reports that artificial intelligence could 'supercharge' election risks across south-east Asia, raising concerns that AI-generated disinformation and deepfakes may undermine votes in the region. The warning comes as several south-east Asian countries head into or prepare for elections, with observers flagging the growing difficulty of distinguishing manipulated content from genuine campaign material.

A BBC Ideas and Open University animation is drawing attention to how deepfakes, voice cloning and other synthetic media have made online fraud far harder to detect than in the era of obviously distorted images and telltale glitches. The short video walks viewers through practical verification habits for checking whether content is genuine, as experts warn that scams using convincing fake faces and cloned voices are becoming routine.

A public-service warning is circulating that deepfakes, voice cloning and other synthetic media have made online fraud far harder to detect than in the era of obviously distorted hands and visible glitches. A short animation produced by BBC Ideas and The Open University is being shared alongside it, offering practical verification habits people can use to recognize manipulated content before falling for scams.