UN Calls for Stronger Global Standards to Combat AI Deepfakes

The United Nations is urging companies and platforms to adopt advanced tools to detect and prevent AI-generated deepfakes, warning of rising threats to elections and financial systems.

In a report released Friday at the AI for Good Summit in Geneva, the UN’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU) highlighted the growing risks posed by manipulated multimedia, including AI-generated images, videos and audio that convincingly mimic real people.

The ITU called for robust global standards and urged social media platforms and content distributors to use digital verification tools to authenticate content before it is shared.

“Trust in social media has dropped significantly because people don't know what's true and what's fake,” said Bilel Jamoussi, Chief of the Study Groups Department at the ITU's Standardisation Bureau.

Jamoussi said generative AI’s ability to fabricate realistic multimedia makes combatting deepfakes one of the top challenges in the digital space.

Leonard Rosenthol of Adobe, which has worked on deepfake detection since 2019, said establishing the origin of digital content is essential to help users determine its authenticity.

“We need more of the places where users consume their content to show this information,” Rosenthol said. “When you are scrolling through your feeds you want to know: can I trust this image, this video?”

Dr. Farzaneh Badiei, founder of digital governance research firm Digital Medusa, said a global approach is necessary, as no single international body currently oversees deepfake detection.

“If we have patchworks of standards and solutions, then the harmful deepfake can be more effective,” she said.

The ITU is developing standards for watermarking videos, which account for 80% of internet traffic, to embed data such as creator identity and timestamps.

Tomaz Levak, founder of Switzerland-based Umanitek, called on the private sector to take the lead in implementing safety measures and educating users.

“AI will only get more powerful, faster or smarter… We'll need to upskill people to make sure that they are not victims of the systems,” Levak said.

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• UN urges stronger detection tools to fight AI deepfakes

• ITU calls for global standards and digital verification

• Experts stress need for content provenance and user education

Source: REUTERS