Click above for Larry’s CBS News Radio Eye on Tech report about fake news videos
Here’s one more thing to think about when it comes to media literacy.
Not only do we have fake stories and even fake pictures. Now it’s possible to create fake videos like the one below of Barrack Obama talking trash. The video was created by actor and comedian Jordan Peele who mouthed the words that appear to come from the former president’s mouth. Peele’s purpose was to show how it’s now possible to literally put words into someone else’s mouth.
According to The Verge, it’s getting easier to create videos like this thanks to artificial intelligence and some pretty sophisticated new software including a Photo Shop like program for audio that Adobe has reportedly been experimenting with.
Detection tools might be coming but in the mean time…
There are also tools in the works that can spot fake news, making this look a lot like another technology arms race between the fakers and the fake detectors. In the mean time, it’s up to all of us to use our media literacy skills and ask ourselves if there is something fishy about what we see? Does it seem real? If there is any doubt, do a little research, including checking urban myth sites like Snopes.com and Politifact. You can like Barack Obama or not, but you should know that he doesn’t trash talk in public.