Core Concepts
People's perceptual capabilities are insufficient to reliably distinguish between authentic and synthetic media, highlighting the need for alternative countermeasures.
Abstract
The study conducted by Cooke et al. from the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington D.C., USA, focuses on assessing human detection capabilities regarding AI-generated images, videos, audio, and audiovisual stimuli. The research aimed to determine how accurately individuals can differentiate between synthetic and authentic content encountered online. The study involved 1276 participants in a perceptual survey series emulating typical online platform conditions. Results indicated that participants could only correctly identify the authenticity of digital content 51.2% of the time. Detection performance was influenced by various factors such as media type, authenticity, image subject matter, modality, and language familiarity. Notably, participants' prior knowledge of synthetic media did not impact their detection performance significantly. Overall, the findings suggest that human perceptual abilities are inadequate as a defense against deceptive synthetic media.
Acknowledgements:
- Contributions from Gamin Kim, Ike Barrash, Daniel Pycock.
- Survey design contributions from Alexis Day.
Introduction:
- Advancements in generative AI technology have led to an increase in realistic synthetic media.
- Synthetic media is being misused for harmful purposes like disinformation campaigns and financial fraud.
- Current defense against deceptive synthetic media relies heavily on human perceptual capabilities.
Results:
- Participants could only identify digital content authenticity correctly 51.2% of the time.
- Detection accuracy varied based on factors like media type, authenticity, image subject matter, modality, and language familiarity.
- Prior knowledge of synthetic media did not significantly impact detection performance.
Limitations:
- Study limitations include using data collected before 2023 and potential biases due to self-reported participant information.
Discussion:
- People struggle to distinguish between authentic and synthetic content effectively.
- Stimuli characteristics significantly influence detection performance.
- Prior knowledge of synthetic media does not enhance detection capabilities significantly.
Stats
Participants were able to overall correctly identify the authenticity of digital content 51.2% of the time.
Detection accuracy worsened when stimuli contained synthetic content compared to authentic content.
Participants were more accurate at classifying fully authentic stimuli compared to those with synthetic media.
Participants were less accurate when classifying images featuring human faces compared to non-face objects.
Detection accuracy was higher for multimodal audiovisual stimuli compared to single modality stimuli.
Participants were more accurate at detecting known language stimuli than foreign language stimuli.
Quotes
"People are highly susceptible to being tricked by synthetic media in their daily lives."
"Human perceptual capabilities can no longer be relied upon as a useful defense."