The Rise of Voice Deepfakes: What You Need to Know About Deepfake Audio

The rise of certain technologies has brought about amazing innovations. But, as with all great things, it’s also introduced all new challenges, specifically around security and privacy online. The challenge we’re talking about in this article is voice deepfakes, a technology that allows anyone to create fake audio recordings that sound like real people, such as celebrities or other high profile people. 

Keep reading to learn more about what voice deepfakes are, why they are concerning, and ways you can protect yourself online, like using our real-time voice changer.

Voice deepfakes use artificial intelligence (AI) to create fake audio recordings that sound like others. This technology works by analyzing a specific person’s voice and then generating new speech that mimics that person’s unique speech patterns, tone, and inflection. The scary thing about this is that it really isn’t complicated to do. You only need a small amount of audio, which makes it super easy for anyone to create a convincing deepfake (not to be confused with cheapfakes!). 

While this technology is still relatively new, voice deepfakes have already been used to create fake news reports, prank calls, and even to impersonate politicians and celebrities. This has introduced a whole bunch of concerns about the potential for voice deepfakes to be used for harm, like spreading misinformation.

Voice deepfakes introduce a serious threat to privacy and trust. With the rise of fake news and misinformation, it has become more and more tricky to determine what is true and what is not. Voice deepfakes can further muddy the waters, making it even more challenging to know whether a recording is real or fake.

Voice deepfakes can also be used to defame or harass someone. By creating a fake recording of someone saying something they did not say, an individual or group could do some serious damage to that person’s reputation. This could have severe consequences, both for the individual targeted and for others.

And let’s not forget the use of voice deepfakes in cybercrime. Fraudsters have been known to use voice deepfake technology to impersonate individuals to gain access to sensitive information or to convince people to transfer money. These fraudulent activities can cause significant financial losses and damage people’s trust in online interactions.

Protecting yourself from this powerful technology calls for a combination of technological solutions and personal responsibility. Here are some best practices to follow:

✅Check the Source: Before you trust a recording, make sure it comes from a trustworthy source. If you receive a recording that seems suspicious, do some research to see if it’s legitimate.

✅Be Skeptical: If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Be skeptical of any recording that seems too perfect or too outrageous to be real.

✅Protect Your Identity: Consider using a real-time voice changer when you are communicating online in your voice chats or calls. This is a very easy – and free – way to prevent others from recording your voice online. 

✅Stay in the Know: Be sure to educate yourself on the latest developments in voice deepfake technology and learn how to recognize the signs of a fake recording. By educating yourself, you can better protect yourself from the risks associated with voice deepfakes.

If we know anything here, it’s that voice deepfake technology is here to stay. The key is to learn how to coexist with it so as to maintain our safety and privacy online. As with all new tech, there are challenges that we are still working to overcome. But by taking the necessary steps to protect ourselves from these risks, we can all do our part to make sure that voice changing technology is used ethically and responsibly.