Summary

Technological advancements have made it possible for anyone with an internet connection to access a seemingly infinite bank of knowledge with just a few clicks. This great stride forward has allowed information to spread faster and wider than ever before. Centuries ago, knowledge was passed mainly by word of mouth, or by books for those who could read and access them. On account of the great leaps made to get to where we are, people commonly refer to this time period as the Information Era. As technology has continued to progress though, more and more means of spreading misinformation have risen. As we saw in the Cambridge Analytica scandals of the 2016 elections and the court proceedings that followed, social media can be used to spread false information at dangerous rates. Deepfake technologies have popped up recently, a method of using artificial intelligence to create “synthetic media.” With growing prevalence, deepfakes have entered the AI spotlight and face growing scrutiny for their potential use in manipulating and misrepresenting reality. In order to move forward with this technology we need to consider how to best use and manage it.