Fake news is about to get so much more dangerous

The most powerful false-news weapon in history is around the corner. The media industry has only a short time to get ahead of it. If technology continues its current advance, we may soon face totally convincing videos showing events that never happened — created so effectively that even experts will have trouble proving they’re fakes. “Deep fake” video will be able to show people saying, with the authentic ring of their own voices, things they never said. It will show them doing things they never did, by melding their images with other video or creating new images of them from scratch.

Right now, we have a window of opportunity in which most fake videos are far from perfect. This window gives us a chance to sound public alarms about deep fakes, promote basic tips on detecting them and inoculate audiences against the better fakes to come. It’s not an impossible lift; the public is well aware of fabricated pictures and fake news stories (even if, lamentably, they still share them). News coverage of the dangers of deep fakes will find a ready audience. News companies can also publicize analytics sites and browser extensions that can alert viewers to video fakery. Quality media outlets need to emphasize how carefully they vet video. They should make sure their ethics codes and verification procedures adequately address the dangers. Otherwise, audiences will doubt any video — including legitimate and important footage that media outlets gather in their own breaking news coverage and investigative work.

[Thomas Kent is president and chief executive of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.]