TIL a deepfake video of a mayor went viral last month and nobody checked

I spent last Thursday tracking down a video of our mayor that everyone was sharing in the local Facebook group. It turned out to be an AI-generated fake where he supposedly said he was quitting office, but the real mayor posted later that day saying he never made that statement. Has anyone else dealt with a local deepfake that almost got shared around your town?

2 comments

2 Comments

blairtaylor2d ago

Hmm, I actually see it a little different. "Nobody checked" makes it sound like people are just lazy, but honestly most folks don't have the tools or know-how to spot a deepfake. It's not like we all have forensic software sitting around.

avery_lopez2d ago

Oh man, my grandma once tried to zoom in on a photo of a cat to see if it was real!