The White House wants to ‘cryptographically verify’ videos of Joe Biden so viewers don’t mistake them for AI deepfakes::Biden’s AI advisor Ben Buchanan said a method of clearly verifying White House releases is “in the works.”

  • Natanael@slrpnk.net
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    9 months ago

    It helps journalists, etc, when files have digital signatures verifying who is attesting to it. If the WH has their own published public key for signing published media and more then it’s easy to verify if you have originals or not.

    • jj4211@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Problem is that broadly speaking, you would only sign the stuff you want to sign.

      Imagine you had a president that slapped a toddler, and there was a phone video of it from the parents. The white house isn’t about to sign that video, because why would they want to? Should the journalists discard it because it doesn’t carry the official White House blessing?

      It would limit the ability for someone to deep fake an official edit of a press briefing, but again, what if he says something damning, and the ‘official’ footage edits it out, would the press discard their own recordings because they can’t get it signed, and therefore not credible?

      That’s the fundamental challenge in this sort of proposal, it only allows people to endorse what they would have wanted to endorse in the first place, and offers no mechanism to prove/disprove third party sources that are the only ones likely to carry negative impressions.

      • Natanael@slrpnk.net
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        9 months ago

        But then the journalists have to check if the source is trustworthy, as usual. Then they can add their own signature to help other papers check it

        • jj4211@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          To that extent, we already have that.

          I go to ‘https://cnn.com’, I have cryptographic verification that cnn attests to the videos served there. I go to youtube, and I have assurances that the uploader is authenticated as the name I see in the description.

          If I see a repost of material claimed to be from a reliable source, I can go chase that down if I care (and I often do).

      • AA5B@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        It’s not a challenge, because this is only valid for photos and videos distributed by the White House, which they already wouldn’t do.

        The challenge is that it would have to leave out all the photos and videos taken by journalists and spectators. That’s where the possible baby slapping would come out, and we would still have no idea whether to trust it

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      I don’t even think that matters when Trump’s people are watching media that won’t verify it anyway.

      • EatATaco@lemm.ee
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        9 months ago

        The world is not black and white. There are not just trump supporters and Biden supporters. I know it’s hard to grasp but there are tons of people in the the toss up category.

        You’re right that this probably won’t penetrate the deeply perverted world of trump cultists, but the wh doesn’t expect to win the brainwashed over. They are going for those people who could go one way or another.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          I find it hard to believe that there are too many people who truly can’t decide between Trump and Biden at this point. The media really wants a horse race here, but if your mind isn’t made up by this point, I think you’re unlikely to vote in the first place.

          I’ll be happy to be proven wrong and have this sway people who might vote for Trump to vote for Biden though.

          • EatATaco@lemm.ee
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            9 months ago

            So, the race is basically already decided but there is a conspiracy among the media and polling companies to make it look like the race is actually close and that there are undecides. Of course, the only way to prove this wrong would be with polls, but we’ve conveniently already just rejected that evidence. Very convenient.

              • EatATaco@lemm.ee
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                9 months ago

                A couple of things.

                First, your link is outdated: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/2022-election-polling-accuracy/

                Yes, 2020 was a bad year, but last year was actually a very good year. Basically what you are saying is that “4 years ago polls were bad, so that allows me to just believe whatever I want.”

                Second, if you believe you have no metric by which to measure something, the correct thought is “I’m not sure what the answer is” not “what I think is true must be true.”

                Plus, don’t believe it was missed that you just outright ignored the whole part of your post that this is some conspiracy, of course thrown out there with zero evidence.

                • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                  9 months ago

                  Basically what you are saying is that “4 years ago polls were bad, so that allows me to just believe whatever I want.”

                  How on Earth am I saying that?

                  Second, if you believe you have no metric by which to measure something, the correct thought is “I’m not sure what the answer is” not “what I think is true must be true.”

                  Have you met the average Fox viewer?

                  Plus, don’t believe it was missed that you just outright ignored the whole part of your post that this is some conspiracy, of course thrown out there with zero evidence.

                  Conservative media not giving a shit about the truth isn’t a conspiracy theory, it’s a fact. Hence Fox having to pay a billion dollars to Dominion.

                  • EatATaco@lemm.ee
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                    9 months ago

                    How on Earth am I saying that?

                    Sorry I got it wrong. What exactly are you saying with that point?

                    Have you met the average Fox viewer?

                    What does the average Fox viewer have to do with you and your point?

                    Conservative media not giving a shit about the truth isn’t a conspiracy theory, it’s a fact. Hence Fox having to pay a billion dollars to Dominion.

                    Wait, now we are just talking about conservative media? I thought we were talking about the media wanting you to think there was actually a race?