United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM)

History

2023: Use of deepfakes to provide psychological impact on citizens of other countries

In early March 2023, it became known that the US Special Operations Command (SOCOM), responsible for some of the country's most secret military campaigns, would use propaganda and organize disinformation actions on the Internet using deepfakes.

According to The Intercept, citing information contained in documents under federal contracts, SOCOM wants to get at its disposal improved funds for conducting "digital deception and disinformation campaigns at the tactical and operational levels." One of these tools can be deepfakes - image synthesis tools based on artificial intelligence. We are talking about creating realistic fakes of video materials using machine learning. The documents note that SOCOM plans to use such fake personnel to "generate messages [of the desired content] and influence [citizens] as part of its operations through unconventional channels."

SOCOM plans to create realistic fakes of video materials using machine learning

Chris Meserole, head of artificial intelligence and new technologies at the Brookings Institution, notes that if deepfakes are used in military and intelligence operations, such fakes should be subject to verification and control. Experts warn that the use of deepfakes for deliberate deception could have a deeply destabilizing effect on civilians.

The documents, as noted by The Intercept, disclose information about another SOCOM initiative: this is a hack of devices connected to the Network to collect information about how foreign citizens respond to propaganda and deepfakes. In particular, Internet of Things equipment can be tapped. The findings would theoretically allow SOCOM to tweak its disinformation actions in a way that achieves maximum effectiveness.^[1]

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