Los Angeles Times

Commentary: An FAQ from the future — how we struggled and defeated deepfakes

As generative AI programs rapidly improved, it grew clear that deepfake content would be a danger to democracy.

Cast your mind forward. It’s Nov. 8, 2028, the day after another presidential election. This one went smoothly — no claims of rampant rigging, no significant taint of skulduggery — due in large part to the defeat of deepfakes, democracy’s newest enemy.

Is such a future possible? So far, neither government nor the tech industry has agreed on effective guardrails against deepfakes. But this FAQ (from five years in the future) shows that the events of 2024 may well force the issue — and that a solution is possible.

Why did it take so long to find an effective way to fight deepfakes?

Late in 2022, sophisticated low-cost AI software appeared that

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