Categories
3D modeling artificial intelligence deception fake news imagery information technology internet media forgery media technology persuasion privacy social media social media speech synthesis surveillance video

AI-enables creation of 3D face model from single image

If you’re not sufficiently concerned about people using AI tools to create convincing fake audio and video, now the Computer Vision Lab at Nottingham University has developed an AI system capable of creating fairly accurate 3D faces from single photographs. I uploaded one of my own to the demo tool and a few seconds later it produced the following model (a GIF of captured screen video of me rotating the 3D model):

Imagine what AI can do with multiple images and videos of you (from your social media posts, mobile phone’s images and videos library, surveillance images, etc.). Among other possible take-aways is the need for vigilance and cynicism. If you see or hear something in digital media (online or in media sent to you via email, IM, etc.) that is too terrible, wonderful or just shocking to be true, it probably isn’t. For now, at least, it’s still possible to detect forged media (and fake news, but you probably don’t want to) but soon it will require AI tools to spot the work of other AI tools and we’ll then have to decide which AIs to believe. The make/detect forgeries arms race is accelerating.

Okay, still smarting from me suggesting you may not want to detect when the news you enjoy and agree with is fake? Check out the following video and exercise your media literacy by researching cognitive biases.

Related links (interesting examples of cognitive bias and trolling in many of the comments)
  • https://www.ipscommons.sg/fake-news-mind-traps/
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XGTTKJJsEw
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrkqZfHOvbE
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases
Categories
complexity government information technology rationality

The President discusses technology in government

Once upon a time, the United States of America had a competent president who actually grasped complex issues and could intelligently explore governmental implications. Those were the days.

Categories
internet mental health social media social science

More evidence Facebook usage correlates with lower self esteem

Another study adds weight to findings that mental health declines as Facebook usage increases. The effect is thought mainly to result from involuntary judgments we make about ourselves in comparison with others whose social media presence is carefully curated and filtered to paint unrealistically positive pictures of their lives. Another possible contributing factor is that online usage (averages over one hour per day for Facebook users) detracts from time available for in-person socializing, which is known to contribute mental health. 

Categories
cyber security information technology internet privacy surveillance

An easy way to track changes in user agreements, privacy policies, and other public web pages

Given the increasing license commercial (and non-profit) internet-based services take with our private data, it becomes increasingly important to pay attention to user agreements and privacy policies. It’s challenging enough to read those legalistic tomes once, much less keep track of their frequent changes. Reputable companies and organizations will automatically notify customers and members of changes to policies, but many include clauses relieving them of change notification responsibility. I could find no federal law holding them accountable to secure your acknowledgment of such changes.

Some years ago I found Change Detection, a free web service that allows you to monitor changes to the text content on any publicly accessible (no login) web page. I’ve used it to monitor changes to the user agreements and privacy notices (nearly always public pages) of the services and products I use. When the text on a monitored page changes, Change Detection sends me an email message that identifies the target page and shows exactly how it has changed. This relieves me of the burden of manually monitoring those policies. Change Detection automates the parts of change monitoring that humans perform poorly at—remembering and following through on tedious, boring tasks.