A new survey has revealed that the majority of the UK still don’t know what a ‘deepfake’ is.
The technology uses artificial intelligence to adjust existing video, swapping out the subject’s face for another.
Though the technique was possible before the introduction of artificial intelligence, it is now possible to create the videos with little human effort.
In recent years the technique has been used to create videos as proof-of-concept, but it has since poured out into popular culture.
Videos claiming to star politicians and public figures have been created and published, appearing to show the likes of Mark Zuckerburg, Kim Kardashian and president Obama speaking.
The technology has also been used to super-impose the faces of female celebrities into pornographic videos.
The survey, carried out by biometric facial authentication firm iProov reports that 72 per cent did not know what the technology was.
Once given a definition, 42 per cent of respondents said that the threat of identity fraud was their biggest concern with the technology.
With the proliferation of these videos across social media, a similar 72 per cent said that they would prefer to use a platform with ‘deepfake safeguards’ in place.
Facebook, alongside Microsoft, has launched a $10m contest to find researchers who can better detect video which have been altered by the technology.
The move followed a ‘deepfaked’ viral video of Mark Zuckerburg, in which the fake figure warned of the dangers of the technology.
Andrew Bud, founder & CEO of iProov, said: “Awareness is the first defence against any cyber-security threat, as we’ve already seen with attacks like phishing and ransomware.
“Deepfakes, however, represent a whole new kind of danger to businesses and individuals.
“Technology also has a big role to play in combating the threat, yet if the vast majority of people in the UK have such little awareness of deepfakes right now, they simply cannot begin to prepare themselves as they need to.”
Bud previously told BusinessCloud that the technology would not fool iProov’s system, as it scan in 3D.