AI has been taking huge strides in the artificial future ahead. This new research has taken it further. Researchers have announced that AI-generated faces have become so advanced that many people think they’re more trustworthy than actual humans.
Two researchers worked together to find that a neural network dubbed StyleGAN2 can create faces indistinguishable from the real thing. This was stated in a press release from Lancaster University. In fact, in a jarring twist, participants appeared to find AI-generated faces more trustworthy than the faces of actual people.
“Our evaluation of the photorealism of AI-synthesized faces indicates that synthesis engines have passed through the uncanny valley and are capable of creating faces that are indistinguishable — and more trustworthy — than real faces,” the researchers, who will be publishing a paper of their findings in the journal PNAS, said in the release.
In the study, the team asked participants to rate the faces on a scale of one to seven for trustworthiness, with one being least trustworthy. On average, the synthetic faces were discovered to be seven percent more trustworthy than normal ones.
This leads to an alarming conclusion that AI can be used in place of real faces and people will not be able to distinguish them from the real faces. Fabrication of videos and photos can go to the next level.
“Perhaps most pernicious is the consequence that in a digital world in which an image or video can be faked, the authenticity of any inconvenient or unwelcome recording can be called into question,” the researchers said.