Microsoft announced Video Authenticator, a tool that will beat deepfake on its own turf. (Image via VentureBeat)

Ahead of the U.S election, Microsoft releases 'deepfake' detector

The United States (U.S) Presidential Election is drawing nearer. In order to avoid misinformation and hoax, one of the American tech giants, Microsoft, released a revolutionary software to spot and tackle "deepfake" in hard-detect photos and videos, called the "Video Authenticator".

Deepfake is photos or videos altered using artificial intelligence (AI); it is known for its misleading qualities that almost look like the real persons being imitated. The software will detect any discrepancies in these photos and videos escaped from the normal observations. It has been a while since the major social media platform such as Facebook and Twitter are struggling to abolish deepfakes to avoid misleading information and hoaxes surrounding the candidates, making them say things that they did not actually say and people will buy it.

Therefore, the political experts have been warning the U.S since November last year that the deepfake will be a major hindrance in the upcoming elections because it may bestow false messages and information that nobody had ever seen before.

To release Video Authenticator, Microsoft said that it collaborated with AI Foundation based in San Francisco in order to distribute the software for political campaigns, news, and other political usages. Moreover, Microsoft also added the Video Authenticator to its Azure cloud, so that the content creators can check whether the photos and videos have been altered or not. The first mass media that will do the test-run will be BBC and the New York Times.

Source: https://bit.ly/2FercJO