Draft Portion 1

Section I

Deep learning algorithm (also known as Deepfake) is a technique that artificial

intelligence has used to create manipulated results in the forms of videos. Deepfake is the

term that is combined with “deep learning” and “fake”. With its sophisticated artificial

intelligence, Deepfake is used to replace one’s face with the likeness of another to generate a

very realistic, yet fake, video. In simplistic terms, Deepfake technology is like an advanced

form of photo-editing software that yields fabricated images which appear to be real. With

this technology, it is possible to provide the users to edit or manipulate digital video content. 

Similar to most contemporary AI-based applications, deep learning algorithm uses

deep neural networks, which is a type of AI algorithm that recognizes patterns in large sets of

data. (Dickson, 2020) By studying the target person from multiple angles with its large

amount of data set, Deepfakes can easily yield a persuasive counterfeit. To be more specific,

Deepfakes uses an autoencoder, which is one of the types of neural-network structure. That

is, it is an “unsupervised learning algorithm in which artificial neural network is designed in a

way to perform task of data encoding plus data decoding to reconstruct input.”(Jain, 2020) In

order to generate Deepfakes, the encoded representation of target person is fed to the decoder.

Then, it allows Deepfakes to produce the output that has reference’s likeness but with the

characteristic of target.

Section II

It is beyond dispute that the sophistication of technology could bring not only

convenience but also serious consequences. In this contemporary society, Deepfakes are

becoming the controversial issue in not only academic but also the social world. Because

Deepfakes leaves little trace of manipulation, people are easily deceived by it. This

technology can be used for purpose as benign as entertainment and as bad as social
disruption. These days, we are repeatedly told that we are living in the era of post-truth, in

which people are influenced by their emotions or belief that they already hold rather than the

factual information. Although lots of information that people read online (especially in one’s

social media feeds) seem to be true, often it is not. Deepfakes use social media platforms, in

which conspiracies can spread easily, since the users tend to easily be swayed by the crowd.

In other words, Deepfakes can be a tool to generate false information, which is a fake news

or hoaxes that is purposefully designed to deceive readers. In many of the cases, these fake

news are created to influence people’s political agenda or cause confusion in order to profit

large corporations or online publishers themselves. With that said, Deepfakes can have the

potential to misguide the public since Deepfakes technology can provide the media that their

fake news can appear realistic. The usual context of Deepfakes is political or social

transgression, which fakes a video of someone saying something that they actually did not

say in order to manipulate public opinion. Although spreading the false information is easy, it

is very hard to combat the Deepfakes and correct the record since its outputs are hyper-

realistic that people would not believe.

Other case that Deepfakes has been widely applied is nonconsensual pornography,

which is a huge threat that Deepfakes pose to women. In the past, Deepfakes focused more on

celebrities or political leaders having their faces swapped into porn videos or sexually explicit

images. However, Deepfakes will likely more used for revenge porn, which are videos posted

without the subject’s consent as a way to humiliate and embarrass them, for noncelebrities in

the near future. It is beyond dispute that we cannot underestimate the psychological impact of

appearing in a pornographic Deepfakes video. Some have compared these nonconsensual

Deepfakes pornographic videos as a digital rape. That being said, Deepfakes complicates a

new layer of digital crime that how nefarious uses of Deepfakes technology can harass and

shame people on the internet. Although the subject can combat that Deepfakes porn videos
are not real, we cannot neglect the psychological damage that one would have due to

Deepfakes. Unfortunately, however, there is not much things one can do about it since there

is little legislation globally that governs these videos- although, there are many Deepfakes

videos with millions of views in the porn sites. Although there are options for these videos to

get removed from the internet by copyright claims to defamation, these battles are not only

time-consuming but also expensive. Thus, there is not guarantee that video will be removed

since sometimes theses laws are not applied to Deepfakes at all. Moreover, once it is

uploaded on online, it can easily replicated and distributed again. Although the U.S is

working on Deepfakes specific legislation, the law is still too far behind to regulate.
 Works Cited

Dickson, Ben. “What Is a Deepfake?” PCMAG, PCMag, 4 Mar. 2020,

www.pcmag.com/news/what-is-a-deepfake.

Jain, Anushka. “What Is Auto-Encoder in Deep Learning?” Medium, Analytics Vidhya, 16

Dec. 2020, medium.com/analytics-vidhya/what-is-auto-encoder-in-deep-learning-
5d668f94651b.