“An update from the Wild Wild West of fake news technologies: A team of computer scientists have figured out how to make words come out of the mouth of former President Barack Obama — on video — by using artificial intelligence,” writes Aarti Shahani in their recent NPR article entitled “Computer Scientists Demonstrate The Potential For Faking Video.”
Shahani writes that “if you've been on the Internet at any point in the last year, there's a good chance you've come across fake news articles. Soon we may see a wellspring of fake news videos.”
“As a team out of the University of Washington explains in a new paper titled ‘Synthesizing Obama: Learning Lip Sync from Audio,’ they've made several fake videos of Obama,” according to the NPR piece.
“Take, for example, a time that he discussed the Pulse nightclub shooter and said "the investigation is ongoing, but we know that the killer was an angry and disturbed individual who took in extremist information and propaganda over the Internet,” Shahani explains.
The NPR article continues that “Obama did, in fact, say these words. But the computer scientists were able to make it look like he said them in places different from where he actually did — in this instance, in a different room at the White House. Audio and video images could be manipulated to make it look like he said them at a different time — say as a much younger Obama.”
This video shows the variants the team created during their project:
Now, you might be wondering how this demonstration in artificial intelligence could affect you.
Consider the possibility of false propaganda here.
Could terrorist groups use this technology to provoke attacks? Where would the attacks take place? Is there a significant chance that the devastating impact of this technology could trickle down to your property?
Of course!
We don’t want you to wait around to find out. We want you to be ready for these threats.
How does that sound?
Preparation Is Critical for Awareness
Proactive Operations is effective.
From strategy to infrastructure to technology, there’s many facets to examine and several processes to implement.
We’re not going to address all of them today.
We’ve identified a particularly important aspect of the NPR article: awareness.
Preparation becomes natural and crucial when while striving to achieve maximum awareness.
It will lead to increased awareness because you’ve spent the time to address your strategy and follow a process.
Let’s begin.
How to Hone Awareness
To begin, you’ll scrutinize the ‘A’ in the ACDA Principle™, which is awareness.
What is ‘Awareness’? It’s knowledge of a situation.
Knowledge (and even perception), can lead to increased awareness for proactive operations.
If an active shooter pulls out their gun in front of you, you’re aware of its presence. But, if you aren’t conscious of the shooter until this point, you’re already behind.
The good news is that proactive operations can stay ahead of the threat – because they prepare.
Develop your knowledge and perception.
Your ability to see, hear and become aware of something through understanding and the senses become enhanced.
What does this mean?
Through various channels, such as the ones below, you’re improving your readiness for what’s coming.
- Training (Tabletop & Real-Life Exercises)
- Unified Solutions
- Expert Resource Allocation
All of these prepare you and increase your awareness of threats, especially ones produced by false propaganda.
You’ll know what to look and listen for at all times.
You’ll also know what measures to take when necessary and how to mitigate and eliminate the threat.
So, how does your ‘awareness’ match up?
Unified Solutions Enhance the Effects of Preparation
You must supplement preparation to increase awareness.
We believe we can help with your technology implementation, so here are some ideas.
Situational awareness is the key to effectiveness. Know what’s going on, and do it in real time using a unified solution that consists of:
- Text Communication
- Incident Management System
- Mobile Apps
1. Text Communication
You must include both customers and employees in the protection of your property. This effort is accomplished using text communication.
The solution gives your customers a tool to report potential and existing threats. They can send a text message to your command center (inclusive of pictures, videos, and the details of the situation).
You’re giving thousands of eyes the ability to contribute to everyone’s safety.
2. Incident Management System
It’s time to take responsibility for the awareness, which means you need your incident management software to join in.
From your command center, incident details are passed from your texting system to your incident management system (IMS).
The incident is dispatched to all need-to-know people once entered into this system.
From ‘on-scene’ to ‘close,’ your teams know in real time what’s happening with an incident.
3. Mobile Apps
With the introduction of high-tech Wi-Fi infrastructure on properties, mobile apps are changing the level of efficiency and communication.
Your awareness skyrockets, whether an incident is reported from frontline staff or emergency response teams receiving high-priority incident notifications on their device.
No more wasting time.
Your team knows what’s happening, when and where. The communication is instant, and your ability to respond is effortless.
Mobile apps ensure you are always alert and ready for any future threats to your property.
Over to You
The teams from the University of Washington have brought to light the opportunities for groups to exploit artificial intelligence to shape hostile beliefs and incite evil action.
You must prepare yourself for the future of these threats. It’s time to enhance your awareness with expertly trained staff and unified technology.
So, is your property ready for the future of threats?
![Proactive Operations Prepare for New Threats [Infographic]](https://www.247software.com/hs-fs/hubfs/350x350-1.png?width=960&length=960&name=350x350-1.png)
