Synthetic media

Not to be confused with a synthetic growth medium.

Synthetic media (also known as AI-generated media,[1][2] media produced by generative AI,[3] personalized media, personalized content,[4] and colloquially as deepfakes[5]) is a catch-all term for the artificial production, manipulation, and modification of data and media by automated means, especially through the use of artificial intelligence algorithms, such as for the purpose of misleading people or changing an original meaning.[6][7][8] Synthetic media as a field has grown rapidly since the creation of generative adversarial networks, primarily through the rise of deepfakes as well as music synthesis, text generation, human image synthesis, speech synthesis, and more.[8] Though experts use the term "synthetic media," individual methods such as deepfakes and text synthesis are sometimes not referred to as such by the media but instead by their respective terminology (and often use "deepfakes" as a euphemism, e.g. "deepfakes for text"[citation needed] for natural-language generation; "deepfakes for voices" for neural voice cloning, etc.)[9][10] Significant attention arose towards the field of synthetic media starting in 2017 when Motherboard reported on the emergence of AI altered pornographic videos to insert the faces of famous actresses.[11][12] Potential hazards of synthetic media include the spread of misinformation, further loss of trust in institutions such as media and government,[11] the mass automation of creative and journalistic jobs and a retreat into AI-generated fantasy worlds.[13] Synthetic media is an applied form of artificial imagination.[11]

  1. ^ Goodstein, Anastasia. "Will AI Replace Human Creativity?". Adlibbing.org. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  2. ^ Waddell, Kaveh (September 14, 2019). "Welcome to our new synthetic realities". Axios.com. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  3. ^ "Why Now Is The Time to Be a Maker in Generative Media". Product Hunt. October 29, 2019. Archived from the original on February 15, 2020. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  4. ^ Ignatidou, Sophia. "AI-driven Personalization in Digital Media Political and Societal Implications" (PDF). Chatham House. International Security Department. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 11, 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  5. ^ Dirik, Iskender (August 12, 2020). "Why it's time to change the conversation around synthetic media". Venture Beat. Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  6. ^ Vales, Aldana (October 14, 2019). "An introduction to synthetic media and journalism". Medium. Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on January 30, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  7. ^ Rosenbaum, Steven. "What Is Synthetic Media?". MediaPost. Archived from the original on January 30, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  8. ^ a b "A 2020 Guide to Synthetic Media". Paperspace Blog. January 17, 2020. Archived from the original on January 30, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  9. ^ Ovadya, Aviv (June 14, 2019). "Deepfake Myths: Common Misconceptions About Synthetic Media". Securing Democracy. Archived from the original on January 30, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  10. ^ Pangburn, DJ (September 21, 2019). "You've been warned: Full body deepfakes are the next step in AI-based human mimicry". Fast Company. Archived from the original on November 8, 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  11. ^ a b c Vales, Aldana (October 14, 2019). "An Introduction to Synthetic Media and Journalism". Medium. Archived from the original on January 30, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  12. ^ "AI-Assisted Fake Porn Is Here and We're All Fucked". motherboard.vice.com. December 11, 2017. Archived from the original on September 7, 2019. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  13. ^ Pasquarelli, Walter (August 6, 2019). "Towards Synthetic Reality: When DeepFakes meet AR/VR". Oxford Insights. Archived from the original on January 30, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2020.