This train has been hurtling down the tracks for decades. Image, audio and video manipulation software has been used for ages.
We all must know of image editors being used to make a model's boob bigger, hips smaller or remove skin blemishes - it is collectively known as Photoshoping. Audio software can speed up or slow down or raise or lower the tone of speech - make you sound drunk or high. It has been used to make instrument less music for generations. And video editing software can create all sorts of effects for movies. Some of us even have low-level versions, apps, of these softwares on our phones.
Today, however, more powerful software using AI is being used to create these deep fakes that are so convincing they seem real. C4 did a skit of the Queen's speech on Christmas day that, apart from the jokey content, could have been real. If you watch very carefully on a large HD screen the blends can be detected, but on a tablet or phone: no chance! We are not too far away from them being invisible.
There is a real and present danger that words could be put into the mouths of politicians and leaders of many descriptions to foment unrest, civil disobedience and even war. And the places to see most of them? Why, the largely unregulated spaces that are social media and the dark web. The authorities worldwide are getting very concerned.