DICT procures digital tool vs poll deep fakes

MANILA, Philippines — A digital tool detecting deepfakes has been procured for the May midterm elections by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

The software worth P2 million can scan photos and videos within 30 seconds to determine if they are authentic or deepfake, with 95-percent accuracy, DICT Undersecretary Alexander Ramos said yesterday.

Generated using artificial intelligence, deepfakes can depict people as doing or saying something that never happened.

A task force against deepfakes has been formed by the DICT, Commission on Elections (Comelec) and Philippine National Police (PNP), Ramos noted.

The DICT plans to work with independent groups in localities to cascade the use of the software down to the community level. — Mayen Jaymalin, Delon Porcalla