I read an email today that really disturbed me.

Enough for me to stop and write this article, and it relates to the most pressing need in the world that I find myself drawn to which is fixing the internet.

The email I read explained that our AI and video technology has got so good that we’re able to generate fake videos swapping one person’s face over another’s face, in realtime, using standard hardware tools and standard footage from Youtube, that’s indecipherable from the real thing. Here’s an example below from Stanford:

Stanford University Study

This is what is called a ‘deepfake’ and the US Department of Defense is so concerned by it that they think it’ll be the beginning of an AI-powered arms race.

What surprised me was that the technology is so far ahead of what I thought was possible.

What didn’t surprise me was that people are looking to use this technology to harm other people.

What worries me is that it’s too easy for people to get access to this technology. The consequences of our connectedness is very high now with all our critical infrastructure and weapons being connected. What would happen if the person with the control codes was duped by a fake video?

However what disturbs me (and angers me) most is that ‘fake news’ is a problem that is completely solvable, which makes this an entirely unnecessary problem to have to be dealing with today.

The solution is here today. And it’s name is the Elastos Smartweb.