Beware of Deepfakes! – When AI Becomes a Weapon Against Democracy

More and more deceptively real deepfakes—manipulated or completely fabricated videos—are circulating online, deliberately used to influence political opinions and shape public sentiment. Could such images ultimately even decide elections?

Cybersecurity expert Mirko Ross warns in an interview with Süddeutsche Zeitung about a new dimension of digital manipulation. Artificial intelligence is creating attack vectors that can massively influence public debates—subtly, rapidly, and globally.

Anyone who owns a computer can become a deepfaker,” says Ross.
And that makes deepfakes a potential weapon in the information war.

The danger lies in the fact that AI systems are trained on real images, and the generated fakes are now technically almost indistinguishable from the originals.
As a result, the boundaries between real and artificial are blurring—with profound consequences for trust, democracy, and social cohesion.

Read the full article now on Süddeutsche Zeitung:

👉 https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/deepfakes-wahlbeeinflussung-gefahr-demokratie-deutschland-cybersicherheit-li.3382932?reduced=true

Mirko Ross in Interview - Süddeutschen Zeitung - deepfakes
Konrad Buck

Konrad Buck

Head of Press and Media Relations

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