Kuala Lumpur: The production and propagation of Deepfake Artificial Intelligence (AI) on social media platforms (in particular those showing political figures and attacking sensitive problems, constitute an important threat to national security.
The director of the Cybersia Universiti Sains Research Center in Malaysia, Professor Dr Selvakumar Manickam, said that in extreme scenarios, videos of the Deepfake AI could be used to simulate attacks or create “false flag” operations that could potentially trigger conflicts or a war in a country.
“The broadcasting of Deepfake videos, in particular those involving political figures or (playing) sensitive problems, could be considered a threat to national security.
“The facility of creation and convincing distribution Deepfake (AI videos) will further increase the threat (for national security), which makes it (like) a powerful tool for enemies who want to destabilize a country,” he recently told Bernama.
He said this in response to the recent emergence of videos from AI Deepfake involving two leaders, namely US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, and his main implications for national and international security.
The video of AI Deepfake which has become viral on social media platforms shows that Trump and Anwar are committed to conversation, discussing geopolitical issues and bilateral diplomatic relations while promoting an investment program that is supposedly offering several profits.
The AI Deepfake video involving images of the two leaders was detected for the first time on X and Tiktok platforms before spreading to other social media platforms such as Facebook and Whatsapp.
To date, neither the American Embassy in Malaysia nor the Prime Minister’s office have made declarations on the spread of the DEEPFAKE AI video showing that their leaders discuss.
However, if the production and distribution of such Deepfake videos are not reduced, this could affect political stability and undermine public confidence in the direction of the country, said Selvakumar.
It does not exclude the possibility that the videos of the Deepfake AI have the potential to become a powerful tool for the interests acquired to exploit political sensitivities and social dynamics in Malaysia, thus creating conflicts or manipulating public opinion.
According to him, there have been previous cases where AI Deepfake videos had a major impact on world leaders and major events that took place in a country.
He quoted a case in Indonesia, where a video of the Deepfake was widespread to represent a former president (now deceased) encouraging people to go out and vote.
“In India, recordings of the Deepfake AI have been used to spread false declarations attributed to a political figure, while in Slovakia, the audio recordings of Deepfake with a voice of the voice of a liberal candidate were distributed before the elections, who would have affected the outcome of the elections of the country,” he said.
Selvakumar said that the Deepfake AI technology used in videos involving Malayian and American leaders have shown advances in AI technology to the point of being able to imitate the movements of the lips, the intonation of the voice and the facial expressions with a high level of precision.
Deepfake video detection, he said, is relatively easy for those formed and can be identified through technical aspects such as the imperfection of mouth movements with audio, inconsistencies in lighting and shadows on faces and objects.
“However, for the general public who lack technical expertise, a different approach is necessary to avoid being fooled by Deepfake videos,” said Selvakumar, advising users to carefully check their sources of information.
Previously, several videos of the Deepfake AI involving the senior management of Petronas, the CEO of Tesla Inc, Elon Musk, and the deputy of Séputeh Teresa Kok have also become viral on the country’s social media platforms. – Bernama