DEEP FAKESWhat You Need to Know About Audio Deepfakes
Audio deepfakes have had a recent bout of bad press, but what receives less press are some of the uses of audio deepfakes that could actually benefit society. Nauman Dawalatabad explores ethical considerations, challenges in spear-phishing defense, and the optimistic future of AI-created voices across various sectors.
Audio deepfakes have had a recent bout of bad press after an artificial intelligence-generated robocall purporting to be the voice of Joe Biden hit up New Hampshire residents, urging them not to cast ballots. Meanwhile, spear-phishers — phishing campaigns that target a specific person or group, especially using information known to be of interest to the target — go fishing for money, and actors aim to preserve their audio likeness.
What receives less press, however, are some of the uses of audio deepfakes that could actually benefit society. In this Q&A prepared for MIT News, MIT CSAIL postdoc Nauman Dawalatabad addresses concerns as well as potential upsides of the emerging tech. A fuller version of this interview can be seen at the video below.
Q: What ethical considerations justify the concealment of the source speaker’s identity in audio deepfakes, especially when this technology is used for creating innovative content?
A: The inquiry into why research is important in obscuring the identity of the source speaker, despite a large primary use of generative models for audio creation in entertainment, for example, does raise ethical considerations. Speech does not contain the information only about “who you are?” (identity) or “what you are speaking?” (content); it encapsulates a myriad of sensitive information including age, gender, accent, current health, and even cues about the upcoming future health conditions. For instance, our recent research paper on “Detecting Dementia from Long Neuropsychological Interviews” demonstrates the feasibility of detecting dementia from speech with considerably high accuracy. Moreover, there are multiple models that can detect gender, accent, age, and other information from speech with very high accuracy. There is a need for advancements in technology that safeguard against the inadvertent disclosure of such private data. The endeavor to anonymize the source speaker’s identity is not merely a technical challenge but a moral obligation to preserve individual privacy in the digital age.
Q: How can we effectively maneuver through the challenges posed by audio deepfakes in spear-phishing attacks, taking into account the associated risks, the development of countermeasures, and the advancement of detection techniques?
A: The deployment of audio deepfakes in spear-phishing attacks introduces multiple risks, including the propagation of misinformation and fake news, identity theft, privacy infringements, and the malicious alteration of content.
