Deepfake" videos manipulate reality are becoming sophisticated due to advance in artificial intelligence

If you see a video of a politician speaking words he never would utter, or a Hollywood star improbably appearing in a cheap adult movie, don't adjust your television set — you may just be witnessing the future of "fake news."

"Deepfake" videos that manipulate reality are becoming more sophisticated due to advances in artificial intelligence, creating the potential for new kinds of misinformation with devastating consequences.

As the technology advances, worries are growing about how deepfakes can be used for nefarious purposes by hackers or state actors.

"We're not quite to the stage where we are seeing deepfakes weaponized, but that moment is coming," Robert Chesney, a University of Texas law professor who has researched the topic, told AFP.

Chesney argues that deepfakes could add to the current turmoil over disinformation and influence operations.

"A well-timed and thoughtfully scripted deepfake or series of deepfakes could tip an election, spark violence in a city primed for civil unrest, bolster insurgent narratives about an enemy's supposed atrocities, or exacerbate political divisions in a society," Chesney and University of Maryland professor Danielle Citron said in a blog post for the Council on Foreign Relations.

Paul Scharre, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a think tank specializing in AI and security issues, said it was almost inevitable that deepfakes would be used in upcoming elections.

A fake video could be deployed to smear a candidate, Scharre said, or to enable people to deny actual events captured on authentic video.

With believable fake videos in circulation, he added, "people can choose to believe whatever version or narrative that they want, and that's a real concern."