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Tips to avoid being fooled by AI audio recordings

To help you figure out how to spot a fake, we talked with experts from the Poynter Institute for Media Studies.

BALTIMORE — A reportedly disgruntled school employee is accused of making a deep fake voice recording of their Baltimore school's principal going on a hateful, racist rant. Investigators say the fake recording was made using AI. It led to a crucial question, how can people tell the difference between what's real and what's AI? 

As we get closer to election season, the potential for artificial intelligence video and audio, as well as deep-fake pictures. There are a few ways to help you decipher whether an image, video, or audio is real or artificially made. 

To help you figure out how to spot a fake, we talked with experts from the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. 

Experts say to look for misshapen objects, texture issues and nature-defying glitches. Reverse image searches are also recommended when it comes to visuals. 

As for audio, it can be tougher. 

“It really comes down to your critical thinking or media literacy skills,” said Alex Mahadevan, an AI expert from the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. 

Mahadevan says there are no guaranteed platforms to run audio through for verification and to be skeptical of all sound, but especially inflamed rhetoric. However, he does have some pointers.

“You might listen to see if there is breathing on the audio. The words and phrases that they use, are they phrases that they use generally?" he said. 

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