Blockchain: The Solution to Deep Fake Proliferation

With the rapid advancement of AI-generated content, deep fakes are quickly setting off alarm bells, most lately in the music and record-label industry. Over the past weekend, an artist known as “Ghostwriter977'’ released a song called “Heart on my Sleeve” featuring AI-generated imitations of popular artists Drake, The Weeknd Metro Boomin and The Future. In less than 24 hours since its release, the song had over 3.5 million streams. However, the artist has since taken down the song from major streaming platforms such as Apple Music, Tidal, Spotify and YouTube, raising questions about the authenticity and reliability of AI-generated content. At the time of this writing, it’s not yet clear if the major record label, Universal Music Group, issued any legal pressure for the artist to take the song down.

In today’s digital age, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate between what’s real and what’s not. Deep fakes, which are highly convincing fake videos, audio recordings, or images, have the potential to cause irreparable harm, from damaging reputations to manipulating public opinion. This is where blockchain and Filecoin technology come in.

Blockchain is a decentralized, distributed ledger technology that provides a secure and transparent way of recording and verifying transactions. Its immutability and transparency make it an ideal solution for verifying the authenticity of data and tracking its provenance. Filecoin, on the other hand, is a decentralized storage network that allows anyone to store, retrieve, and share files securely and efficiently. By combining these two technologies, we can create a secure and reliable system for verifying the authenticity of digital content.

A new norm in online social behavior?

Using blockchain and Filecoin technology, we can create a system where every piece of digital content is timestamped, verified, and stored on a decentralized network. This would ensure that the content is tamper-proof and can be traced back to its origin. For instance, if an AI-generated video is uploaded to a platform, its authenticity can be verified using blockchain technology. The video’s hash (a unique digital fingerprint) can be stored on the blockchain, along with its timestamp and other relevant information, providing an unalterable record of the video’s authenticity.

By storing the content on a decentralized storage network like Filecoin, we can ensure that the content is not controlled by any single entity or organization. This eliminates the risk of censorship, as no one entity can control access to the content. Additionally, decentralized storage networks like Filecoin are highly resistant to attacks, making them a secure and reliable way to store sensitive data.

The use of blockchain and Filecoin technology can also help address the issue of digital rights management. With the proliferation of AI-generated content, it is becoming increasingly difficult to determine who owns the rights to the content. By using blockchain technology to store the content’s provenance and ownership information, we can create a system where content creators can easily prove ownership of their creations.

The value of preserving the authenticity of sensitive data is already at play today at Starling Labs where they are using Filecoin technology and PiKNiK data storage to preserve USC Shoah Foundation - The Institute for Visual History and Education’s Holocaust archive, document the war in Ukraine and restore trust online.

Blockchain technology will increasingly play a critical role in addressing the growing concern of deep fakes and the proliferation of AI-generated content. By creating a secure and transparent system for verifying the authenticity of digital content, we can ensure that our digital world remains a safe and trustworthy place. The use of these technologies can help restore trust in our digital ecosystem and protect us from the potentially harmful effects of deep fakes.