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From TFA (and making assumptions about the woman), I don't believe these were "deepfakes". It sounds like it was just the usual Photoshop kind of stuff. And i

by blunte 6y ago

From TFA (and making assumptions about the woman), I don't believe these were "deepfakes". It sounds like it was just the usual Photoshop kind of stuff. And in that regard, it's just another sad story about some people with issues.

phreack 6y ago
It's hard for the general public to grasp the difference between a photoshopped image and one generated with ML processes, so I expect both will be called "deep fakes" by the media for the foreseeable future.
- monkpit 6y ago
  That’s unfortunate. But also probably true.
swsieber 6y ago
It did mention videos. That makes me think they're deep fakes.
- starmftronajoll 6y ago
  I thought so too, but then I re-read the article and the original report linked from the article, and they both seem to use “video” and “photo” interchangeably. Whenever specifics are given, though, it’s always a photo. Despite the headline, the reports provide no evidence that there were actual videos involved, AFAICT.
  - barbecue_sauce 6y ago
    Maybe it was a video slideshow.
- dorkwood 6y ago
  There aren't any videos mentioned in quotes, which makes me think that it's likely a mistake on the reporter's part. This paragraph seems to conflate the two. > The videos were analyzed, and detectives were able to determine they were “deepfakes” — digitally altered but realistic-looking images — created by mapping the girls’ social media photos onto other images, the Philly Inquirer reported.
zapdrive 6y ago
She was dumb enough to upload the photos directly, exposing her IP address. I doubt she's smart enough to make deepfakes. This is most definitely a Photoshop story.
- whatever_dude 6y ago
  There are plenty of apps out there that create image and video deepfakes with just a few clicks, with impressive results.
martey 6y ago
I think this quote suggests you are right: > The videos were analyzed, and detectives were able to determine they were “deepfakes” — digitally altered but realistic-looking images — created by mapping the girls’ social media photos onto other images... Both this article (and the Inquirer article it is based and basically plagiarizes - https://www.inquirer.com/news/bucks-county-raffaela-spone-cyberbullying-deepfake-20210312.html https://www.inquirer.com/news/bucks-county-raffaela-spone-cy...) seem to be confused about the difference between photos and videos and seem to imply that they are interchangeable. It would be interesting to read the actual affidavit and see if it contains the same confusion, or if this is something caused by the Inquirer's reporting.
- thaumasiotes 6y ago
  > the Inquirer article it is based and basically plagiarizes Seems hard to accuse it of plagiarizing the article when it cites that article as its source three separate times, in the only three links that appear.
  - martey 6y ago
    The PennLive article is an example of "close paraphrasing" [1] or improper source citation. There are several sentences and phrases in it that are extremely similar or the same as those in the original Inquirer article. This is even true in the lead sentence - both articles contain the same phrase to describe the "deepfakes": "fake photos and videos that depicted the girl’s rivals naked, drinking, or smoking". [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Close_paraphrasing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Close_paraphrasing
    - thaumasiotes 6y ago
      That's not improper source citation. That's how newspapers work. Wait until you hear about the Associated Press.
- dang 6y ago
  Ok, I've changed the URL from https://www.pennlive.com/news/2021/03/pa-woman-created-deepfake-videos-to-force-rivals-off-daughters-cheerleading-squad-police.html https://www.pennlive.com/news/2021/03/pa-woman-created-deepf..., in keeping with the HN guidelines' request for original sources. Thanks! https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
colordrops 6y ago
Does the distinction matter though? It's getting easier every day for people to access commodity tools to make deep fakes, and it's only a matter of time until the cambrian explosion of indistinguishable visual media arrives.
xkcd-sucks 6y ago
> the usual Photoshop kind of stuff https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26448986 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26448986
aaron695 6y ago
> The girl and her coaches were sent photos that appeared to depict her naked, drinking and smoking a vape pen "Smoking a vape pen" I don't get this one. Was it an offence to be a cheerleader and vape? Why not go all out a do a cigarette, they were already going all out with naked photos. I'd guess some of the photos were real, but the police are calling them 'deep fakes' for privacy reasons.
- blunte 6y ago
  In some areas, vaping is seen as something only the dregs of society would do. In other places, it's just seen as an alternative to smoking. But smoking itself is seen as a low class or high class activity as well depending on where you are.
  - bobthepanda 6y ago
    Also vape usage trends young, so depending on who the coach is they may have a more negative view of it if they don’t have any peers doing it, and they are supposed to be discouraging the kids from doing it. Unfamiliarity breeds distrust.

by blunte 6y ago

phreack 6y ago

It's hard for the general public to grasp the difference between a photoshopped image and one generated with ML processes, so I expect both will be called "deep fakes" by the media for the foreseeable future.

monkpit 6y ago
That’s unfortunate. But also probably true.

swsieber 6y ago

It did mention videos. That makes me think they're deep fakes.

starmftronajoll 6y ago
I thought so too, but then I re-read the article and the original report linked from the article, and they both seem to use “video” and “photo” interchangeably. Whenever specifics are given, though, it’s always a photo. Despite the headline, the reports provide no evidence that there were actual videos involved, AFAICT.
- barbecue_sauce 6y ago
  Maybe it was a video slideshow.
dorkwood 6y ago
There aren't any videos mentioned in quotes, which makes me think that it's likely a mistake on the reporter's part. This paragraph seems to conflate the two. > The videos were analyzed, and detectives were able to determine they were “deepfakes” — digitally altered but realistic-looking images — created by mapping the girls’ social media photos onto other images, the Philly Inquirer reported.

zapdrive 6y ago

She was dumb enough to upload the photos directly, exposing her IP address. I doubt she's smart enough to make deepfakes. This is most definitely a Photoshop story.

whatever_dude 6y ago
There are plenty of apps out there that create image and video deepfakes with just a few clicks, with impressive results.

martey 6y ago

I think this quote suggests you are right: > The videos were analyzed, and detectives were able to determine they were “deepfakes” — digitally altered but realistic-looking images — created by mapping the girls’ social media photos onto other images... Both this article (and the Inquirer article it is based and basically plagiarizes - https://www.inquirer.com/news/bucks-county-raffaela-spone-cyberbullying-deepfake-20210312.html https://www.inquirer.com/news/bucks-county-raffaela-spone-cy...) seem to be confused about the difference between photos and videos and seem to imply that they are interchangeable. It would be interesting to read the actual affidavit and see if it contains the same confusion, or if this is something caused by the Inquirer's reporting.

thaumasiotes 6y ago
> the Inquirer article it is based and basically plagiarizes Seems hard to accuse it of plagiarizing the article when it cites that article as its source three separate times, in the only three links that appear.
- martey 6y ago
  The PennLive article is an example of "close paraphrasing" [1] or improper source citation. There are several sentences and phrases in it that are extremely similar or the same as those in the original Inquirer article. This is even true in the lead sentence - both articles contain the same phrase to describe the "deepfakes": "fake photos and videos that depicted the girl’s rivals naked, drinking, or smoking". [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Close_paraphrasing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Close_paraphrasing
  - thaumasiotes 6y ago
    That's not improper source citation. That's how newspapers work. Wait until you hear about the Associated Press.
dang 6y ago
Ok, I've changed the URL from https://www.pennlive.com/news/2021/03/pa-woman-created-deepfake-videos-to-force-rivals-off-daughters-cheerleading-squad-police.html https://www.pennlive.com/news/2021/03/pa-woman-created-deepf..., in keeping with the HN guidelines' request for original sources. Thanks! https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

colordrops 6y ago

Does the distinction matter though? It's getting easier every day for people to access commodity tools to make deep fakes, and it's only a matter of time until the cambrian explosion of indistinguishable visual media arrives.

xkcd-sucks 6y ago

> the usual Photoshop kind of stuff https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26448986 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26448986

aaron695 6y ago

> The girl and her coaches were sent photos that appeared to depict her naked, drinking and smoking a vape pen "Smoking a vape pen" I don't get this one. Was it an offence to be a cheerleader and vape? Why not go all out a do a cigarette, they were already going all out with naked photos. I'd guess some of the photos were real, but the police are calling them 'deep fakes' for privacy reasons.

blunte 6y ago
In some areas, vaping is seen as something only the dregs of society would do. In other places, it's just seen as an alternative to smoking. But smoking itself is seen as a low class or high class activity as well depending on where you are.
- bobthepanda 6y ago
  Also vape usage trends young, so depending on who the coach is they may have a more negative view of it if they don’t have any peers doing it, and they are supposed to be discouraging the kids from doing it. Unfamiliarity breeds distrust.