In January 2018, a desktop application was released. While images have been manipulated online for years, “FakeApp” uses deep learning to allow anyone to create realistic face-swap videos – often for sexually explicit purposes. Headlines were made when celebrities were superimposed over porn stars, while many on social media laughed at safe-for-work edits of Nicholas Cage’s face onto other actors’ bodies.
This month, Reddit and PornHub banned these videos – known as “deep fakes” – and when Motherboard first broke the story, writer Samantha Cole was clear about the potential consequences of the tech.
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