Explained crudely, the tech behind deepfakes, Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), is a two-part model: there’s a generator (which creates the content after studying similar images, audio, or videos) and the discriminator (which checks if the new content passes as legit). Only 39% of Cosmopolitan readers said they knew the word ‘deepfake’ during our research (it’s derived from a combination of ‘deep learning’ – the type of AI programming used – and ‘fake’). Yet, despite their prevalence, the term ‘deepfake’ (and its murky underworld) is still relatively unknown. That ‘gender swap’ app we all downloaded for a week during lockdown? You’ve guessed it: a low-fi form of deepfaking. Those eerily realistic videos of ‘Tom Cruise’ that went viral last February? Deepfakes. Remember the alternative ‘Queen’s Christmas message’ broadcast on Channel 4, that saw ‘Her Majesty’ perform a stunning TikTok dance? A deepfake. Basically, AI technology (which is getting more accessible by the day) can take any image and morph it into something else. This image is a deepfake – and part of a rapidly growing market.

And all it took to create was an easily discovered automated bot, a standard holiday snap and £5. Because this image, despite looking realistic, is a fake. Or upload it onto a porn site, leaving me spending the rest of my life fearful that every new person I meet has seen me naked. And hauntingly, it would take just two clicks of a button for someone to attach it to an email, post it on Twitter or mass distribute it to all of my contacts. And that’s all.Īlthough the image isn’t exactly what I see staring back at me in the mirror in real life, it’s not a million miles away either. There’s the slight pixilation around part of my waist, but that could be easily fixed with amateur Photoshopping. I zoom in on the image, attempting to gauge what, if anything, could reveal the truth behind it. My denim bikini has been replaced with exposed, pale pink nipples – and a smooth, hairless crotch. I’m looking at a picture of my naked body, leaning against a hotel balcony in Thailand.

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