Exclusive: Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel speaks on deepfakes and importance of authenticating ‘real news’

In the wake of the growing use of deepfakes, Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel has emphasised the importance of authenticating real news. His statement comes amidst the rising concerns around deepfakes after a recent fake video of an Indian actress Rashmika Mandanna went viral. Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel, in an exclusive interview with Business Today in Jaipur earlier this week, shared the potential uses of AI but he also highlighted the issues and possible solutions to problems like deepfakes and misinformation.

‘We should assume more and more content is created by AI’

In response to this growing trend, Evan Spiegel, CEO of Snapchat, has highlighted the importance of authenticating real news. “With the explosion in content creation that’s being powered by AI, I think it is becoming more and more important to authenticate real news,” Spiegel said. He further explained that Snapchat has a closed content platform where they decide the publishers who can publish to their platform and ensure that the content adheres to their content guidelines.

Spiegel emphasised that in today’s digital age, we should assume that more and more of the content that we see has been created by Artificial Intelligence or may not be accurate. Therefore, it is crucial to authenticate real news and assume that news or articles that are not authenticated or not from a publisher we trust may not be real.

Spiegel said, “We should assume that more and more of the content that we see has been created by Artificial Intelligence or may not be accurate. So, in fact it is important to authenticate the real news and assume that the news that we see or articles that we see, that is not authenticated or not from a publisher we trust, may not be real.”

‘AI is a powerful creative tool’

In addition to addressing the challenges posed by AI, Spiegel also highlighted the potential benefits. “AI is such a powerful creative tool,” he said. “I think for so many people, we imagine something in our head, we want to create or share but actually building ourselves or drawing it ourselves or designing it ourselves is very challenging.”

Spiegel believes that artificial intelligence can help bridge this gap. “To be able to use artificial intelligence to shorten the distance between what you can imagine in your mind and what you can create on your phone, or even in future with AR glasses, is something that holds enormous potential. I believe AI is going to be an empowering creative tool for humanity.”

Watch full interaction here: Exclusive Interview With Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel 

Also read: There’s an unbelievable amount of creativity on Snapchat in India: Snap Inc CEO Evan Spiegel