The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Thursday April 25, said they are expecting more "deepfake" incidents as the election approaches.
"Well, dadami 'yan at lalago, lalo na po ngayon with AI (artificial intelligence) and parating po 'yung mga elections this year (Well, it's going to grow, especially now with AI, and especially with the upcoming elections this year)," DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy said on the sideline of the Girls in ICT Day 2024.
He further explained that the upcoming election is widely referred to as the "super election" due to its global significance, with approximately 80 countries worldwide participating in the voting season.
On April 23, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) urged the public to remain vigilant following the release of a deepfake audio in which President Marcos Jr. appeared to direct the military to act against a particular country.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2024/4/24/malacanang-warns-public-vs-fake-marcos-audio
The DICT chief pointed out the prevalent use of deepfake technology to deceive people and spread misinformation and disinformation.
"It's very difficult now to ascertain what's true and what's not because of technology," Uy said in a mix of English and Filipino.
"So, we need to be more discerning, we need to be more aware that we cannot trust everything that we see online," he added.
'We need weapons'
Meanwhile, Uy emphasized the agency's need for essential tools to effectively combat the rise of cybercrimes.
"We are all trying to do our best to address this evolving technology with the necessary tools that can hopefully be provided to us so that we can do it faster and better," he said.
The DICT chief then compared the fight against cybersecurity threats to a "war" that also requires proper equipment and tools.
"So, we need budgetary support to do this because, you know, if this is a war, we need weapons," he said.
"We can't just engage in a war without weapons, without training, without tools to combat these cyber threats, cybercriminals," he added.