A.I. face study reveals a shocking new tipping point for humans

These A.I. faces are so realistic, humans can’t tell the difference, a new study

Computers have become very, very good at generating photorealistic images of human faces.

What could possibly go wrong?

A study published last week in the academic journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences confirms just how convincing “faces” produced by artificial intelligence can be.

In that study, more than 300 research participants were asked to determine whether a supplied image was a photo of a real person or a fake generated by an A.I. The human participants got it right less than half the time. That’s worse than flipping a coin.

The results of this study reveal a tipping point for humans that should feel shocking to anybody who thinks they are savvy enough to spot a deepfake when it’s put up against the genuine article.

While the researchers say this feat of engineering “should be considered a success for the fields of computer graphics and vision,” they also “encourage those developing these technologies to consider whether the associated risks are greater than their benefits,” citing dangers that range from disinformation campaigns to the nonconsensual creation synthetic porn.

“[W]e discourage the development of technology simply because it is possible,” they contend.

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