Determining authenticity of video evidence in the age of artificial intelligence and in the wake of Deepfake videos
| Author | Alex Alexandrou,Marie-Helen Maras |
| Date | 01 July 2019 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1365712718807226 |
| Published date | 01 July 2019 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Determining authenticity
of video evidence in the age
of artificial intelligence and in
the wake of Deepfake videos
Marie-Helen Maras
John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, USA
Alex Alexandrou
John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, USA
Abstract
Deepfake videos are the product of artificial intelligence or machine-learning applications that
merge, combine, replace and superimpose images and video clips onto a video, creating a fake
video that appears authentic. The main issue with Deepfake videos is that anyone can produce
explicit content without the consent of those involved. While some of these videos are
humorous and benign, the majority of them are pornographic. The faces of celebrities and
other well-known (and lesser-known) individuals have been superimposed on the bodies of
porn stars. The existence of this technology erodes trust in video evidence and adversely
affects its probative value in court. This article describes the current and future capabilities of
this technology, stresses the need to plan for its treatment as evidence in court, and draws
attention to its current and future impact on the authentication process of video evidence in
courts. Ultimately, as the technology improves, parallel technologies will need to be developed
and utilised to identify and expose fake videos.
Keywords
Artificial intelligence, authentication, Deepfake, probative value, video evidence
Introduction
Deepfake videos provide the ability to swap one person’s face onto another in a video clip or an image.
The technology that creates these videos is designed to continuously improve its performance. Specif-
ically, the algorithm that creates the fake videos learns, and improves the videos by continuing to mimic
Corresponding author:
Marie-Helen Maras, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 524 W. 59th Street, Haaren Hall, Room 43311, New York 10019-1093,
USA.
E-mail: mmaras@jjay.cuny.edu
The International Journalof
Evidence & Proof
2019, Vol. 23(3) 255–262
ªThe Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/1365712718807226
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