Deepfakes

Synthetic depictions of politicians are taking center stage as the world’s biggest democratic election kicks off.

Sexually explicit deepfakes of Taylor Swift galvanized public demand for laws against nonconsensual, AI-enabled pornography.

A major political party in the United States used generated imagery in a campaign ad. The Republican Party released a video entirely made up of AI-generated images.

A pioneer of deep learning joined the chorus of AI insiders who worry that the technology is becoming dangerous, saying that part of him regrets his life’s work.

Tired of rap battles composed by ChatGPT? Get ready for the next wave of AI-generated fun and profit. Cloned voices are taking center stage in productions by upstart creators and monied corporations alike.

Political forces used a commercial AI service to generate deepfaked propaganda. Videos have appeared on social media that show AI-generated characters speaking against the United States or in favor of foreign governments. The clips feature synthetic avatars offered by the startup Synthesia.

China’s internet watchdog issued new rules that govern synthetic media. Legislation from the Cyberspace Administration of China limits the use of AI to create or edit text, audio, video, images, and 3D digital renderings. The law took effect on January 10.

A prominent tech-news website generated controversy (and mistakes) by publishing articles written by AI. CNET suspended its practice of publishing articles produced by a text-generation model following news reports that exposed the articles’ authorship.

Hate talking to customer service? An AI-powered tool may soon do it for you. Joshua Browder, chief executive of the consumer advocacy organization DoNotPay, demonstrated a system that autonomously navigates phone menus and converses...

A blockbuster app produces sexualized avatar images, even when the original portraits were safe for work.

The new remote administrative assistant is a little too perky, hardworking, and efficient. Is it because he’s a bot?

The filmmakers used technology from Flawless AI to clean up the language, enabling the film to earn a rating that welcomes younger viewers.

Performing artists are taking action to protect their earning power against scene-stealing avatars. Equity, a union of UK performing artists, launched a campaign to pressure the government to prohibit unauthorized use of a performer’s AI-generated likeness.

A deepfake of South Korea’s new president helped propel him into office. Yoon Suk-yeol, who won the country’s March 9 election, campaigned using videos that featured an AI-generated likeness of himself answering voters’ questions.

Legislators worldwide wrote new laws — some proposed, some enacted — to rein in societal impacts of automation.What happened: Authorities at all levels ratcheted up regulatory pressure as