Grace Ashiru
The resurgence of The Beatles through a newly AI-produced song has sparked excitement in the music world. This innovative AI technique merges parts of old recordings and enhances their sound quality. However, there’s a flip side to this technological advancement. The same AI capabilities could be misused to create deepfake voices and images, raising severe concerns about its potential for fraudulent activities.
Kaspersky sheds light on the implications of deep fakes and offers advice on safeguarding against them:
Understanding Voice Deepfakes
Open AI’s Audio API model stands out because it generates human-like speech from text inputs. While it doesn’t currently produce deepfake voices, it highlights the swift progress in voice generation technology. No devices can create a perfect deep fake voice indistinguishable from a natural human voice. However, recent months have seen the emergence of more accessible tools for voice generation, hinting at future models that might offer both ease of use and high-quality results.
Instances of AI-based fraud are rare but not unheard of. Venture capitalist Tim Draper recently alerted his Twitter followers about the potential misuse of his voice in scams, underscoring the increasing sophistication of AI technologies.
Protecting Yourself from Voice Deepfakes:
Despite the rarity of voice deepfakes in cybercrimes, their potential threat cannot be ignored. Currently, the best defense against such scams is vigilance. Poor audio quality, robotic tones, or background noise in a call should raise red flags. Engaging the caller in unexpected questions, like asking about their favorite color, can also reveal the artificial nature of the voice, especially if there’s a noticeable delay in response.
Installing comprehensive security solutions can provide an additional layer of protection. Although not infallible, these tools help identify and avoid deepfake risks by safeguarding browsers, scanning files, and blocking access to dubious websites.
