Jason Haas Authors Article on "Deepfakes" for Intellectual Property Magazine
Jason Haas, an attorney in Ervin Cohen & Jessup’s Litigation Department, published “Deepfake Dilemma” in a recent edition of Intellectual Property Magazine. “Deepfakes” are video or sound recordings generated by intentionally altering real recordings using sophisticated artificial intelligence (“AI”) programs in a manner that is increasingly-difficult to detect. Deepfakes are most commonly used to disparage or defame individuals by making them appear to say or do things that they did not do or say, or to characterize them as being different than they are in truth.
The new article assesses the impact that the growth in deepfakes will have on defamation law in the United States. Jason points out that there are numerous legal issues arising from these fictitious videos, particularly given the great difficulty in identifying the individual or group behind a deepfake. The rise of deepfakes should have a particularly significant impact on media entities, who “will be expected to apply greater scrutiny before publishing videos of questionable provenance or legitimacy” or else face a significant risk of liability for failing to satisfy their duty to investigate.
What the legal system chooses to do with these cases is still to be seen but “deepfakes will require courts to confront questions about the defamatory meaning of changes to aspects of a person – such as age, facial features, and voice – for which little precedent may exist.”
You can read Jason’s article in its entirety by clicking here.