GLS Conference

Deepfakes, a product of artificial intelligence and software applications used to create
convincing falsified audiovisual content, have entered the international lexicon with
unsettling outcomes. Using deep learning algorithms, “deepfake” videos (or colloquially,
just “deepfakes”) typically substitute one person’s visual and acoustic likeness for
another, presenting viewers with compelling videos of individuals doing and saying
things they never did or said (Vaccari et al., 2020). Although verifying online content and
imagery is not a new phenomenon—in fact, the entire field of image forensics exists for
this purpose—academic research exploring this topic is only recently emerging. With
the assistance of sophisticated software programs,’ very exacting algorithms can create
high-quality videos and manipulated audio of individuals without consent. Deepfakes
are potentially the gateway to dangerous forms of crime, leading to the spread of
serious misinformation, often with devastating consequences. The detection rate of this
digital emergence proliferates exponentially, and the sourcing is challenging to verify,
causing alarms. It only takes one example to cause significant harm. Examples of this
information warfare are deepfakes that include identity theft, discrediting public figures
and celebrities, cyberbullying, blackmail, threats to national security, personal privacy,
intensifying pornography and sexual exploitation, cybersecurity, and baiting hate crimes,
abusing social media platforms, and manipulating metadata. These case uses create
pervasive and unaccountable misinformation that is often difficult to discern. This
presentation will review the state of research on deep fakes and their potential
implications on how users assess trust, possible afflictions on memory, and the future of
policies.

This paper analyzes the current landscape of video games that address the topic of fake news.
There are dozens of games that address the topic that typically fall into two categories: those that have
players discern real from fake news, and those that have players create fake news as a form of
‘disinformation officer’. The authors use two case studies in order to exemplify these two types of
games and their underlying design. Several issues are addressed, including the lack of a specific
audience, the designation of fake news spread as a knowledge or education problem, and similarly that
many of these titles lack engaging or innovative mechanics. While there is some research on the efficacy
of these games, the authors argue that deep investigation of the scope of their influence is lacking.

Misinformation has grown into a global issue, with bad faith actors producing misleading content intended to confuse, divide, and muddle the public discourse. We are currently witnessing some of the repercussions of this content within the United States, as targeted misinformation campaigns have influenced individuals to violently question the legitimacy of a democratic presidential election and express apprehension towards receiving scientifically-validated vaccinations. Developing interventions to combat these campaigns is essential to improving the public discourse and removing power from those individuals who benefit from the chaos misinformation creates. This paper first examines the different factors that leave individuals susceptible to misinformation. It then assesses the interventions for combatting and preventing misinformation that are currently in use, as well as the theories backing their design. Finally, it more deeply analyzes the existing game-based interventions for the benefits to their approach and how they can be built upon in future iterations.