Project description
Democratic responses to the challenges of deepfakes and infodemics
Generative adversarial networks (GANs) are generative AI models capable of reproducing realistic images, videos and voice outputs. Because they have the potential to create highly realistic content, they can also pose a threat to democracies through the creation and circulation of deepfakes, which spread false information and undermine trust. In this context, the EU-funded SOLARIS project will focus on the challenges and opportunities posed by GANs in the context of democracy. It will study how deepfakes circulate and are trusted by users, thus threatening democratic processes. It will also develop regulatory guidelines about GANs and generative AI for the promotion of democratic engagement. The project will involve three use cases to simulate the circulation of threatening content, and co-create value-based GANs content to enhance digital citizenship.
Objective
Generative adversarial networks (GANs) are a class of AI models able to create media contents – audio and video – resembling reality. Although there are different promising areas of application of GANs – e.g. audio-graphic productions, human-computer interactions, satire, artistic creative expression – their current and foreseen misleading uses are just as numerous and worrying. The main concern is related to the so-called “deepfakes”, fake images or videos simulating real events with extreme precision. If trained on a face, GANs can make it move and speak in a hyper-realistic way. This technology poses an urgent political threat since GANs could be – and have already been – used to spread fake news and disinformation.
This raises an urgent challenge to democratic governance and regulation: to improve GANs accountability, transparency, and trustworthiness. Nevertheless, GANs also constitute an opportunity to enhance democratic awareness and expand active and inclusive citizenship.
SOLARIS reacts to these challenges in two ways. On the one hand, we analyse political risks associated with these technologies, to prevent negative implications for EU democracies. As a result, SOLARIS will establish regulatory innovations to detect and mitigate deepfake risks. On the other hand, we assess the opportunities raised by GANs for reinvigorating the democratic engagement of citizens. We will co-create, involving citizen science, value-based GANs contents to enhance democratic engagement. SOLARIS involves three use cases: the first aims at understanding the psychological aspects of GANs perceived trustworthiness. The second simulates the circulation of threatening GANs contents on social media, to detect risks and design mitigation strategies. The third co-creates value-based GANs contents to boost awareness on key global democratic topics (e.g: climate change, gender dimension, human migration), to ultimately enhance active and inclusive digital citizenship.
Fields of science
- social sciencessociologygovernance
- social sciencespolitical sciencesgovernment systemsdemocracy
- social sciencespolitical sciencespolitical policiescivil society
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes
- social sciencessociologydemographyhuman migrations
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Funding Scheme
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation ActionsCoordinator
3584 CS Utrecht
Netherlands