Have you seen Barack Obama call Donald Trump a “complete dipshit,” or Mark Zuckerberg brag about having “total control of billions of people’s stolen data”? Answer yes and you’ve seen a deepfake. The 21st century’s answer to photoshopping, deepfakes use a form of artificial intelligence (AI) called deep learning to create images of fake events, hence the name deepfake.
The AI firm Deeptrace found 15,000 deepfake videos online in September 2019, a near doubling over nine months. A staggering 96 percent were pornographic, and 99 percent of those mapped faces from female celebrities onto porn stars.
Is it just about videos? No. Deepfake technology can create convincing but entirely fictional photos from scratch.
Photo: AFP 照片：法新社
Audio can be deepfaked too. In March 2019, the chief of a UK subsidiary of a German energy firm paid nearly ￡200,000 into a Hungarian bank account after being phoned by a fraudster who mimicked the German CEO’s voice. Similar scams have reportedly used recorded WhatsApp voice messages.
How do you spot a deepfake? Poor-quality deepfakes are easier to spot. The lip synching might be bad, or the skin tone patchy. However, spotting a deepfake gets harder as the technology improves. In 2018, US researchers discovered that deepfake faces do not blink normally. No surprise there: the majority of images show people with their eyes open, so the algorithms never really learned about blinking. At first it seemed like a silver bullet for the detection problem, but no sooner had the research been published than deepfakes appeared with blinking. Such is the nature of the game: as soon as a weakness is revealed, it is fixed.
(The Guardian)
你看過歐巴馬稱川普為「徹頭徹尾的蠢貨」，或是祖克柏吹噓「完全掌控了數十億人被盜的資料」嗎？若你回答是，那麼你已見識過「deepfake」（深偽）。deepfake是二十一世紀對Photoshop影像處理的回應，使用一種稱為「深度學習」的人工智慧來製作影像以偽造事情，因此而得名。
人工智慧公司Deeptrace二○一九年九月在網路上發現了一萬五千個deepfake影片，在九個月內幾乎翻了一倍。其中高達百分之九十六的比例是色情內容，所顯示的臉孔，百分之九十九是女性，從名人到色情片明星都有。
deepfake只限於影片嗎？不是的。此技術可做出令人信服，卻是完全虛構的照片。
聲音也可以被深度偽造。二○一九年三月，一家德國能源公司的英國子公司負責人接到一通詐騙電話，騙子的聲音模仿德國的CEO，該負責人便將近二十萬英鎊匯入一個匈牙利的銀行帳戶。據報導，類似的詐騙手法也用於錄製WhatsApp語音訊息。
要如何辨識deepfake呢？品質差的deepfake較容易被識破──嘴唇可能不太同步，或者膚色不均勻。但隨著技術的進步，辨識deepfake變得越來越難。二○一八年，美國有研究人員發現deepfake的人臉無法正常地眨眼。這不令人意外：大多數影像所顯示的人臉，眼睛都是睜開的，因此演算法從未真正學習到眨眼。起先眨眼似乎是識破深偽的訣竅。但這項研究發表後不久，會眨眼的deepfake就出現了。這就是遊戲的本質：弱點一旦被發現，就會被修復。
（台北時報林俐凱編譯）
After steel and aluminum, US President Donald Trump has set his sights on slapping 25 percent tariffs on semiconductors, cars and pharmaceuticals. Trump has already slapped additional 10 percent tariffs on goods from China and has also threatened tariffs on Canada and Mexico, plus ordered a study into putting into place reciprocal tariffs. Here’s a look who would be hit the hardest if US import tariffs on semiconductors, cars and pharmaceuticals go into force. SEMICONDUCTORS: ASIA IN THE CROSSHAIRS Semiconductors, or microchips, are the brains in our electronic devices and demand has soared with the development of AI, which
Noise pollution is a frequently underestimated environmental hazard. While hearing loss is the best-known outcome associated with noise, emerging research is uncovering how noise affects our health in other ways. From impaired memory and sleep disturbances to cardiovascular problems, the impact of noise is profound. For a start, unpleasant or excessively loud sounds can lead to stress and divert attention. Even everyday noises, such as those caused by traffic, lawnmowers, and construction work, can interfere with cognitive functions and elevate stress levels. “Our ears capture sound, but we hear with our brains,” explains Wei Sun, an audiology researcher at
A: Apart from singer Daniel Kang, more South Korean stars are coming to Taiwan in March. B: Really? Like who? A: Taeyeon of Girls’ Generation will hold a concert at the Taipei Dome on March 16. B: So she’ll set a milestone by becoming the first K-pop artist to stage a show at the venue. A: Singer Lee Mu-jin, boy group NCT 127 and girl group GFRIEND are also visiting Taiwan. I can’t wait. A: 除了姜丹尼爾，3月有不少韓星訪台。 B: 真的嗎？有誰啊？ A: 像是少女時代的太妍，3月16日即將唱進大巨蛋。 B: 成為首位破蛋的韓流歌手，這可真是一項里程碑！ A: 歌手李茂珍、男團NCT 127、女團GFRIEND 3月也要來，真是令人期待。 （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張迪）
A: My favorite K-pop superstar, Daniel Kang, will hold a concert at the Taipei Music Center. B: Wow, I’ve also been a fan since he debuted in 2017 as the “center” of the two-year limited boy group Wanna One. A: Since Daniel went solo in 2019, he has continued to shine internationally. B: When is his show taking place? A: It’s scheduled for March 1, which is my birthday. It’s the best birthday gift ever. A: 我最愛的韓星姜丹尼爾要在台北流行音樂中心開唱啦。 B: 哇，自他在2017年以2 年限定男團Wanna One「C位」出道時，我就 一直是他的粉絲。 A: 而他在2019 年單飛後，還是持續在國際上發光發熱。 B: 演唱會是哪天？ A: 日期訂在3月1日，也是我的生日。這真是最好的生日禮物！ （By Eddy Chang,
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