A deepfake video fabricating an online conversation between prominent Hong Kong activists has become the first known exercise in the next level of AI-enabled influence operations. Presumably concocted by the Chinese government or a group that serves it, the video heralds a more tailored and comprehensive approach of psychological warfare. As China integrates deepfake technology into its influence-operations playbook, psychological operations could soon use the technology as a tool of emotional and cognitive manipulation. The deepfake video purported to show a leaked secret conversation between exiled Hong Kong activists discussing their concerns over the possibility of being extradited from Britain to China as a result of Britain’s plan to reinstate an extradition deal with Hong Kong. The video was first published by the Facebook page Yellowbrainclown 黃腦膠戰 on 26 July. Within two hours of the original post appearing, 22 other accounts shared the video to 17 Facebook groups.
Tailored psychological warfare: a deepfake video of Hong Kong activists | The Strategist
