“Our goal was to use the most advanced artificial intelligence techniques available today to create the most believable result possible—and then point to it and say, ‘This is fake; here’s how we did it; and here’s why we did it”

co-director Halsey Burgund, fellow, MIT Open Documentary Lab

The present danger of deepfakes is clear in a demonstration video by MIT. POPULAR MECHANICS reports it shows former US President Richard Nixon announcing the 1969 moon landing killed all aboard Apollo 11. Two excerpts are below.

Two excerpts from the deliberately faked video
  • The speech was written in 1969 to be used in case the Apollo 11 mission ended in tragedy. It was prepared by presidential speechwriter William Safire.
  • The fake uses a deep learning algorithm, a voice actor, and ‘video dialogue replacement.’
  • Clips from the video are featured in an art installation in Amsterdam called ‘In the Event of Moon Disaster.’
  • The full video is expected to be online ‘in spring 2020.’

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This Nixon Deepfake Is an Alternate Reality Where Apollo 11 Fails
POPULAR MECHANICS | December 13, 2019 | by Courtney Linder

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