Top AI researchers race to detect ‘deepfake’ videos: ‘We are outgunned’

Top artificial-intelligence researchers across the country are racing to defuse an extraordinary political weapon: computer-generated fake videos that could undermine candidates and mislead voters during the 2020 presidential campaign.

And they have a message: We’re not ready.

In AI circles, identifying fake media has long received less attention, funding and institutional backing than creating it: Why sniff out other people’s fantasy creations when you can design your own? “There’s no money to be made out of detecting these things,” said Nasir Memon, a professor of computer science and engineering at New York University.