AI Deepfake Misuse Spreading, Urgent Need for Stronger Regulations

Deceptive practices using fake videos and images (deepfakes) created with artificial intelligence (AI) technology are on the rise. Consequently, establishing strong regulations to prevent the misuse of AI technology, along with enhancing the ability to discern fake information, has become crucial.

AI outputs, such as recreating famous artists' paintings with a few finger movements, performing challenge dances, or generating talking animal videos, are gracing social media and have become a cultural staple. People are enjoying the visual aesthetics and music generated by AI, accepting the blurring boundary between reality and the virtual.

AI, once a tool for enjoyment, is increasingly being perverted into a deceptive means of hijacking others' trust. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has initiated stringent regulations against deepfake advertisements impersonating doctors. Deepfakes, by recreating even the subtle facial expressions and voice tones of real individuals, prey on human psychological vulnerabilities. This tendency to be swayed by fake experts is particularly evident in critical fields like healthcare, driven by desperation. Cases are increasing where fake news-style advertisements borrow the faces of news anchors to promote health supplements, or where fictional scientists lure consumers with claims of cutting-edge engineering technology. Such deceptive acts are polluting the very system of social communication, which should be based on scientific facts.