The threat of the Deepfake
Africa, like the rest of the world, undergoes the threats caused by the disproportionate growth of AI. Among the notable effects, the disinformation campaigns targeting, most of the time public figures.
In Guinea, during the month of May, the country has seen a particularly virulent wave of fake-new. Among them, Deepfakes. The most viral is a video mounted from scratch, calling into question the morality of the Guinean Minister of Mines and Geology, Moussa Magassouba, accused of corruption.
In the said video, there is a presenter in a TV set, to announce a false report that Moussa Magassouba accepted a bridge pot of around 500,000 euros, of Chinese businessmen. In reality, the TV set as the presenter comes from an image bank to animate online by IA. The journalist quoted as the author of the report does not exist. The images presented in the video were diverted, extracted from a report on a news item of money laundering in Canada.
Guinea Check verification media , such publications can mislead less educated populations, having never heard of the concept.
Guineecheck
Educate and legislate as ultimate defense
If Africa was already the disinformation test bench long before the advent of AI, its arrival amplifies the phenomenon. In question, the lack of laws on the subject within the continent. "Not seen, not taken"? The insufficiency of legal supervision around the ill -intentioned use of this technology opens the door to mass disinformation campaigns.
Despite everything, some organizations take initiatives to master the subject, train the elite of tomorrow and educate the population in the face of the growing rise in this content. Sharpening your critical thinking and developing expertise in the field is essential. In Niger, the Higher School of Electronic and La Poste communications (ESCEP) recently launched a master's degree in AI! Same bell in South Africa at the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences, sponsored by Facebook and Google.
Artificial intelligence for the development of Africa (IAPD Africa), on the other hand, develops projects all over the continent, in collaboration with local political and scientific communities. The objective is to strengthen knowledge and research concerning AI, respecting the three pillars of sustainable development.
