{"id":181814,"date":"2024-02-06T05:56:55","date_gmt":"2024-02-06T13:56:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/?p=181814"},"modified":"2024-02-06T05:56:55","modified_gmt":"2024-02-06T13:56:55","slug":"safer-internet-day-telling-whats-real-from-whats-fake-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/safer-internet-day-telling-whats-real-from-whats-fake-online\/","title":{"rendered":"Safer Internet Day: Telling What\u2019s Real from What\u2019s Fake Online"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Safer Internet Day, we ask an important question: how can you tell what\u2019s real and what\u2019s fake online?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s plenty of fakery out there, due in large part to AI-generated content. And spotting the difference takes a bit of work nowadays.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Taylor Swift showed us why back in January. More accurately, a Taylor Swift AI voice clone showed us why. Scammers combined old footage of Swift with phony AI-cloned audio that touted a free cookware giveaway. They went about it in a cagey way, using the Le Creuset brand as bait, a brand that her fans know she loves.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, all people had to do was \u201canswer a few questions\u201d to get their \u201cfree\u201d cookware. When some did, they wound up with stolen personal info. It\u2019s one of many full-on identity theft scams with a bogus celebrity AI twist.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, this wasn\u2019t the first time that scammers used AI to trick well-meaning people. Last December saw AI voice-cloning tools mimic singer Kelly Clarkson<\/span>i<\/sup><\/span> to sell weight-loss gummies. Over the summer, scammers posted other ads using the synthesized voice of Elon Musk<\/span>ii<\/sup><\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, more quietly yet no less damaging, we\u2019ve seen a glut of AI-generated fakes flood our screens. They look more convincing than ever, as bad actors use AI tools to spin up fake videos, emails, texts, and images. They do it quickly and on the cheap, yet this fake content still has a polish to it. Much of it lacks the telltale signs of a fake, like poor spelling, grammar, and design.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Another example of AI-generated fake content comes from a BBC report on disinformation being fed to young students<\/span>iii<\/sup><\/span>. In it, they investigated several YouTube channels that use AI to make videos. The creators of these channels billed them as educational content for children, yet the investigators found them packed with falsehoods and flat-out conspiracy theories.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This BBC report offers a prime example of deliberate disinformation, produced on a vast scale, passing itself off as the truth. It\u2019s also one more example of how bad actors use AI, not for scams, but for spreading outright lies.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Amid all these scams and disinformation floating around, going online can feel like playing a game of \u201ctrue or false.\u201d Quietly, and sometimes not so quietly, we find ourselves asking, \u201cIs what I\u2019m seeing and hearing real?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

AI has made answering that question tougher, for sure. Yet that\u2019s changing. In fact, we\u2019re now using AI to spot AI. As security professionals, we can use AI to help sniff out what\u2019s real and what\u2019s fake. Like a lie detector.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We showcased that exact technology at the big CES tech show in Las Vegas earlier this year. Our own Project Mockingbird, which spots AI-generated voices with better than 90% accuracy. Here\u2019s a look at it in action when we ran it against the Taylor Swift scam video. As the red lines spike, that\u2019s our AI technology calling out what\u2019s fake \u2026<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n