UAE launches ‘deepfake guide’

The guide was launched as part of the initiatives of UAE Council for Digital Wellbeing.

The UAE National Programme for Artificial Intelligence has launched a deepfake guide that will help the public understand the harmful as well as helpful uses of this emerging technology.

Deepfake is the use of various techniques, like artificial intelligence, to create fake audio and video clips to make it look genuine and convincing, with the main aim to deceive. This technology, now becoming rampant, has been found in some incidents of cyberbullying.

The guide was launched as part of the initiatives of UAE Council for Digital Wellbeing, chaired by Lt-Gen Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior.

The new deepfake guide has categorised fake content into two main categories: shallow and deep.

Shallow fakes refer to videos in which an editing software is used to slow down one’s speech without changing the pitch; change dates and locations to make the videos appear recent or in different places.

Deepfakes, on the other hand, refer to replacing the original face or voice with fake content developed using advanced technologies. The guide presents ways to detect fake content using systematic deepfake detection powered by AI-based tools.

“It is imperative to focus on the positive and beneficial uses of advanced technologies, raise community members’ awareness on their potential and diverse applications, acquaint them with the most important future challenges, and use technology in developing innovative solutions to build a better future for next generations,” said Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications.