The video, which appeared on the online forum Reddit, was what\u2019s known as a \u201cdeepfake\u201d \u2014 an ultrarealistic fake video made with artificial intelligence software. It was created using a program called FakeApp, which superimposed Mrs. Obama\u2019s face onto the body of a pornographic film actress. The hybrid was uncanny \u2014 if you didn\u2019t know better, you might have thought it was really her.<\/p>\n
Until recently, realistic computer-generated video was a laborious pursuit available only to big-budget Hollywood productions or cutting-edge researchers. Social media apps like Snapchat include some rudimentary face-morphing technology.<\/p>\n
But in recent months, a community of hobbyists has begun experimenting with more powerful tools, including FakeApp \u2014 a program that was built by an anonymous developer using open-source software written by Google. FakeApp makes it free and relatively easy to create realistic face swaps and leave few traces of manipulation. Since a version of the app appeared on Reddit in January, it has been downloaded more than 120,000 times, according to its creator.<\/p>\n
Deepfakes are one of the newest forms of digital media manipulation, and one of the most obviously mischief-prone. <\/p>\n