Paywalled.
BBC documentary used face-swapping AI to hide protesters' identities
11–20 of 94 posts
Re: BBC documentary used face-swapping AI to hide protesters' identities
#12This seems to have a glaring flaw in that a fake AI generated person could have a real-world doppelganger, which a tyrannical government could mistakenly arrest, or worse.
It's a novel approach, but like you've said I think the potential negatives far outweighs the positives. Perhaps they could use obviously fake faces with weird proportions and features? Idk, this seems like a case of using cool flashy tech because it's cool and flashy and not because it's better than the alternative (using an actor to portray the subject, blurring or blacking out the subject's face).
With face recognition software and automated edits they could run any protest footage from autocratic regimes like Iran or China through a filter to obscure everyone's face and replace it with an AI generated one. All it would cost them is a few extra minutes of editing time, I'm not sure if that would be critical in the news business where there's a lot of time pressure.
I think that would be a really cool feature that could help keep protesters safe. Dissidents could send footage to trustworthy outlets who would only make public the edited footage. Because of course people still want to share the event with the world, but they might not want to be identified in a place where if caught they get tortured, raped or even killed.
The individual face isn't really important most of the time, it's not like it makes a difference to the viewer. They could still give the unedited footage too police in places with legitimate rule of law if the government has a court order and can prove a crime was committed by an individual they have on tape.
Re: BBC documentary used face-swapping AI to hide protesters' identities
#13This seems to have a glaring flaw in that a fake AI generated person could have a real-world doppelganger, which a tyrannical government could mistakenly arrest, or worse.
A "glaring flaw" because of some extreme and unlikely scenario?
Why would governments be using AI modified content to look for people to arrest? Is this really a serious risk to dissuade using it? Seems pretty unlikely that it simultaneously a) exclusively be used as the source + b) actually matches someone IRL.
Re: BBC documentary used face-swapping AI to hide protesters' identities
#14Can anyone provide an alternative source please? I've done a quick search and can't find any other sources reporting on this apart from 2x New Scientist links which are both pay-walled (as is the single Internet Archive submission) so my b.s detector is in the red on this one. If in fact the BBC did do this (and that's a BIG if) that would be a huge story and a major breach of the BBC's editorial policies.
News reports already have voice alterations, silhouetting and "Name has been altered", if they used face-swapping but put a big fat disclaimer on the screen, would that be a problem?
Re: BBC documentary used face-swapping AI to hide protesters' identities
#15This seems to have a glaring flaw in that a fake AI generated person could have a real-world doppelganger, which a tyrannical government could mistakenly arrest, or worse.
A "glaring flaw" because of some extreme and unlikely scenario? Why would governments be using AI modified content to look for people to arrest? Is this really a serious risk to dissuade using it? Seems pretty unlikely that it simultaneously a) exclusively be used as the source + b) actually matches someone IRL.
> Why would governments be using this content to look for people to arrest?
Why wouldn't oppressive regimes that are arresting dissidents review footage of dissidents that makes them look bad? Harassing reporters and their sources is a very common way to suppress information.
Scientology does it, why wouldn't a government? https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardbehar/2020/08/05/sciento...
Re: BBC documentary used face-swapping AI to hide protesters' identities
#16This seems to have a glaring flaw in that a fake AI generated person could have a real-world doppelganger, which a tyrannical government could mistakenly arrest, or worse.
A "glaring flaw" because of some extreme and unlikely scenario? Why would governments be using AI modified content to look for people to arrest? Is this really a serious risk to dissuade using it? Seems pretty unlikely that it simultaneously a) exclusively be used as the source + b) actually matches someone IRL.
Are you serious?
This is standard practice by security forces of any dictatorship.
Re: BBC documentary used face-swapping AI to hide protesters' identities
#17This makes absolutely no sense.
If you wanted anonymity and were willing to go to these lengths, then the face could be fully fictitious and AI generated. Thereby placing no one in fear of government retribution.
This only makes sense if you filmed actors and wanted to cover that glaring mistake in your propaganda, because you lack the necessary talent to actually render them with AI.
I don't buy it. Not a fan of authoritarian regimes, but this stinks.
Re: BBC documentary used face-swapping AI to hide protesters' identities
#18Can anyone provide an alternative source please? I've done a quick search and can't find any other sources reporting on this apart from 2x New Scientist links which are both pay-walled (as is the single Internet Archive submission) so my b.s detector is in the red on this one. If in fact the BBC did do this (and that's a BIG if) that would be a huge story and a major breach of the BBC's editorial policies.
...so my b.s detector is in the red on this one Why? A 2020 documentary called Welcome to Chechnya looked at repression of LGBT Chechens and was the first documentary to use " advanced facial replacement techniques using artificial intelligence and novel visual effects technology so the viewer could see real faces displaying real emotions while still protecting the identities of the speakers " [1] The documentary was…
Thank you for pointing out this precedent in this use of face-swapping - it's a great idea, and (together with the OP link about Hong Kong protestors) changes my understanding of the threat/value of face-swapping technology.
Re: BBC documentary used face-swapping AI to hide protesters' identities
#19The documentary is available on iPlayer¹; You may need to be in the UK or have an IP that at least looks that way to see it :/
It immediately made me think of Channel 4's alternative Christmas message from 2020². While the technique is obviously different between the two, the step change in quality feels immense to me. Channel 4's was a few minute long heavily staged piece that didn't hold up to close scrutiny in my eyes, and the BBC's far more convincing example is applied to — I'll trust — somewhat organic recordings of multiple people.
Edit to add: I attempt to draw the connection here because we're talking about relatively cheap broadcast television and not $500,000,000 movies.
¹ https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001f7t5/hong-kongs-fi...
² https://www.channel4.com/press/news/deepfake-queen-deliver-c...
Re: BBC documentary used face-swapping AI to hide protesters' identities
#20Can anyone provide an alternative source please? I've done a quick search and can't find any other sources reporting on this apart from 2x New Scientist links which are both pay-walled (as is the single Internet Archive submission) so my b.s detector is in the red on this one. If in fact the BBC did do this (and that's a BIG if) that would be a huge story and a major breach of the BBC's editorial policies.
I watched the documentary.
It was very upfront about it.
And it's weird because you really couldn't tell (except one of the guys looked blind, pretty sure I'm not just being racist as he didn't look like that at other times)