Although DeepFake is not entirely illegal, about ten states have banned the use of these tools as a result of criminalizing nonconsensual pornography. Even high-profile celebrity like Taylor Swift was a victim of the situation when her explicit images were circulating on X.
Situations like these brought even more urgency to users to detect DeepFakes. But the question is, how does DeepFake Detection work? And, are there ways to detect false pictures from the original ones?
This article will cover eight ways to help you detect DeepFake pictures and videos.
In addition, I will share the six best DeepFake Detectors, their way of functioning, key features, limitations, and price. With that, let’s dive into the details.
How Does DeepFake Detection Work?
According to the research done at the MIT MEDIA LAB, there is no accurate way of detecting whether you are indulging in manipulated media.
However, there are still some workarounds that would help you suspect whether the image/ video is somewhat altered.
All you need to do is ask yourself the following questions while checking the media:-
- Pay extra attention to the face transformations, as frequently, and the high-end AI manipulators are visible on the facial features, be it lip-sync, eyebrow moment, or even blinking.
- The cheek and forehead region can suggest manipulation, too, as you need to check whether there is a smooth surface or too wrinkly. In addition, check whether the hair area and eyes look unnatural – if so, there is guaranteed AI manipulation on the media.
- Keep an eye out for the absence of shadow in typical areas such as undereye and near eyebrows. Most AI media manipulators, including DeepFake, fail to replicate the natural features of your face.
- DeepFake often adds and subtracts facial hair – either way, the media will look patchy and unnatural. So, consider how the sideburns, mustache, and beard look.
Again, these days, Photoshop or other editing tools achieve a sharp beard look. In that case, you need to distinguish the media carefully.
- Is there the presence or absence of moles? As mentioned, the tool fails to replicate natural details and might exaggerate or clear the features. However, people often hide their moles with concealer or even create fake ones with makeup.
So, keep an eye out for that as well!
- Are they blinking too much? Or are they blinking too little? It will giveaway the DeepFake secret, too. Therefore, here, too, you must keep verifying the circumstance and see whether the person has a habit of doing so or whether this change is new.
- Check out the lip-syncing. Is it looking too unnatural? DeepFake tools often mess up the lip-sync, and that is a sure-shot giveaway whether you have come across manipulated media.
- Finally, check the external things. For example, the glare on the glasses. Is it too much? Is it too little? How does it look when the person moves through the window? DeepFake cannot capture the natural lighting completely.
So, when you observe the details properly, you will easily distinguish between real and fake media even before getting a detector
Best DeepFake Detectors of 2024 (Overview)
Check out my top 5 tools/ services for detecting AI-manipulated content like DeepFake.
Here, they use different types of techniques, be it audio forensics, tracking abnormal blinking, or checking the blood patterns in the video clips’ pixels.
Note: Some tools on the list are unavailable to the general public.
Deepfake Detector | Key Features | Link |
---|---|---|
Sensity AI | It detects AI-generated images, GAN-generated faces, and face swaps. | Here |
Sentinel AI | 500 pages, 500-tier, and 1,000 requests per day with 10 MB storage | Here |
WeVerify | It tracks the person who shared the misinformation in the place. | Here |
Phoneme-Viseme Mismatch Detector | It tracks the sync between the mouth area and sound to detect any AI manipulation. | Not available for public use |
Intel’s FakeCatcher | It tracks video pixels’ blood flow patterns, 96% accurate, and real-time data detection | Available only for Intel’s research and development team. |
Check out my top 5 picks for DeepFake Detectors, where some tools are specifically designed to catch AI-manipulated content such as DeepFake.
However, some tools are designed for different purposes and include features to help you in catching the AI manipulation. So, let’s go through them one by one:-
1. Sensity AI
Renowned for its DeepFake Detection technology, Senisity is a company that uses computer vision and deep learning to analyze further whether the piece of media is falsely generated. It has three expertise – AI-generated images, GAN-generated faces, and face swaps.
To explain further, Sensity claims 98.8% detection accuracy in its AI-generated media.
Recently, there has been a rise in security violations where an intruder enters a space by using AI to bypass the face password. What Sensity does is offer you solutions to combat these impersonations or face-swap issues.
Lastly, Sensity also helps you identify the fake profiles on social media that use synthetic pictures as their display picture.
Overall, the company’s technology has undergone a wide range of datasets training to understand the difference between real and fake media. This is how Sentity even claims to have identified around 44000 DeepFakes.
Key Features:
- There is 98.8% accuracy in detecting face swaps and synthetic profiles on social media.
- Understand unique artifacts and patterns that reside within AI content.
- Distinguishes between original media and AI.
- Sensity technology has been trained under many datasets, helping them detect 44000 DeepFakes.
Limitations:
The DeepFake technology is constantly evolving, which results in precise media manipulation. Hence, it’s a constant challenge for Sensity to detect the DeepFake with 100% accuracy.
Pricing: Sensity is a Freemium tool, so you can easily start its use for free.
However, if you want to access the advanced reports, get better AI calls, and have customer support on priority, then you must upgrade to the paid service – $29/ Month.
The tool also offers you an Enterprise price, where you get the feature and price wholly tailored to your needs. For that, you need to reach out to their team.
2. Sentinel AI
Sentinel AI is not entirely a DeepFake detection tool.
To give a little background, it is a company focusing on AI verification and media authentication. Its core product, Media Trust, is specially designed to understand a wide range of media formats, including images and videos, and whether AI is used within it.
This specific feature qualifies Sentinel AI as a DeepFake detector. In addition, the tool identifies the artifacts and inconsistencies and carries out the whole process using machine learning models.
Key Features:
- 1,000 requests per day with 10 MB storage
- 1 GB storage, which you get for 1 Hour/ Day for ten web, API apps, and mobile
- 500 minutes of job run-time
- 500 pages and 500-tier
- 5000 text records, 25 times series, and 2 Million character S0 tier
Limitations:
- Sentinel AI is constantly evolving, which raises the difficulty level for 100% accuracy
- The tool is not designed explicitly for DeepFake Detection
Pricing: Sentinel AI’s pricing option is not publicly available.
However, you can join the service for free as available features are abundant.
3. WeVerify
Like the name suggests, “WeVerify” is a service specifically created for identifying media manipulation – in this case, DeepFake. The multimodal tool integrates multiple techniques that analyze visual media inconsistencies, be they lighting errors, blurring, or even object proportion.
In addition, the tool also analyses the inconsistencies in voice modulation, whether they are differences in speech patterns or even any other background noises.
More importantly, WeVerify runs through a check on social media to spot the culprit who shared the manipulation in the first place.
Key Features:
- Audio forensics tracks the inconsistencies in speech patterns, voice cloning, artifacts, and even background noises.
- Since most false information is available on social media, WeVerify tracks the first user/ IP address through which the media was shared.
- DeepFake practices multimodal techniques as mentioned above.
- WeVerify can identify media manipulation from a broader platform.
Limitations:
- WeVerify’s specific details are not publicly available, which adds to its limited transparency.
- Since the open-sourced tool is more AI-biased, concerns regarding complete accuracy arise.
Pricing:
WeVerify’s price information is not publicly available.
So, you need to contact their team to understand their custom pricing structure directly.
4. Phoneme-Viseme Mismatch Detector
Frequently, DeepFake prefers altering an existing video clip to generating media from scratch. In that case, you need to pay attention to the mouth region, as replicating the exact lip movement is impossible for DeepFake’s algorithm.
The Phoneme-Viseme Mismatch Detector identifies the sync between the Phoneme and Viseme, which is a unit of sound and lip movement, respectively. Now, the question is how the whole process works. Easy –
Phoneme-Viseme technology first tracks the sounds of what the person is saying and then processes the lip movement. After that, the mismatch detector compares whether each video frame perfectly syncs with the words uttered.
If not, Phoneme-Viseme declares it as partially authentic.
Key Features:
- It focuses on lip movement and sound inconsistencies in every video frame.
- It works with low-resolution video clips.
- It detects subtle AI manipulations.
- Focuses on phonemes that need complete mouth movements.
- Open-sourced model.
Limitations:
According to the CVPR 2020 workshop, the Phoneme-Viseme Mismatch Detector is less effective when lip-sync is around the entire mouth region.
Pricing: The exact price details of the Phoeme-Viseme Mismatch Detector are private.
5. Intel’s FakeCatcher
Intel FakeCatcher detects DeepFake in real-time. Unlike the traditional approaches of other tools that track the inconsistencies and artifacts of the media, Intel’s FakeCatcher specifically targets physiological changes.
For example, it takes note of the video pixels’ blood flow patterns and delivers more accurate (96%) and faster results (in milliseconds) on whether the media has used DeepFake.
However, keep in mind the technology of DeepFake is consistently evolving, which makes even the most advanced Detector tools not give 100% accuracy. Regardless, Intel’s FakeCatcher approach still makes it one of the most reliable tools for catching AI in media.
Key Features:
- Real-time Data Detection
- 96% accuracy
- Response in milli-seconds, so ideal for users who require the task done immediately
- Tracks blood flow patterns within the video clips
Limitations:
- FakeCatcher is currently not accessible to the general public.
- The software tool’s prime use is limited to Intel’s research and development purposes.
- Considering FakeCatcher is more focused on facial expressions, it might miss out on AI manipulation of body movements and voice generation.
Pricing:
Intel’s FakeCatcher is not available for commercial use. Therefore, its price is not available publicly.
Related Reads:
- AI Content Detection Sites
- Is There Any Copyright Issues with AI Music?
- Drawbacks of Artificial Intelligence
Conclusion: Sensity AI Is The #1 DeepFake Detection Tool!
Too little information is available regarding the DeepFake Detection tools, as not all are specifically designed to track the AI-manipulated media, nor are they publicly available. However, some tools focus on inconsistencies in images, videos, audio, and video pixels’ blood flow and can catch a manipulated media precisely!
However, remember that these tools do not offer 100% accuracy!
So, check out my top 3 recommendations for DeepFake Detection tools below! I have handpicked them considering their availability for general public use and cost-effective nature:-
- Sensity: It detects AI-generated images, GAN-generated faces, and face swaps with 98.8% accuracy.
- Sentinel AI: It is not a DeepFake detector, but the tool does help identify the artifacts and inconsistencies in the media. Moreover, the free features are no less than a jackpot!
- WeVerify: The tool suspects who spread the media for the first time.
So, these were my top picks for DeepFake Detection. Also, drop in a comment letting our team know why you liked a specific tool – as it would help us to update the list ahead!
FAQs
DeepFake can easily detected by focusing on the person’s face. Is there any significant change in their skin? Do you notice shadows in the typical places? Attention to some of these queries would help you understand whether the image/ video is DeepFake generated.
There are multiple tools in the market to detect DeepFake. Some of the top ones are Microsoft Video AI Authenticator, Sentinel AI, and Intel’s Fake Catcher.
The algorithm to detect DeepFake is called CNN. The datasets used are VID TIMID and DeepFake Forensics, which contain real and fake videos. Lastly, the pre-processing stage detects faces from the video frames.
DeepFake is not necessarily illegal but is banned in California, New York, Texas, and seven more states.
Observe the person’s blinking: Are they blinking too much or too little? The alternate way is checking their lip-syncing – often, DeepFake cannot mimic minute details, which would give away whether the video is AI-generated.
According to the research paper by the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, the accuracy of DeepFake Detectors is 90% or above.