On Agenda Digitale, an in-depth analysis by Daniela De Pasquale and Massimiliano Pappalardo about deepfakes and how to protect ourselves according to the regulations in force in our Country.

The deepfake phenomenon is complex. It consists of audiovisual material created thanks to artificial intelligence software which, starting from real content (images and audio), is able to modify or recreate, in an extremely realistic way, characteristics and movements of a face or body and to faithfully imitate a given voice. The dangers arising from the misuse of this type of material can be serious: we are talking about images that could destroy reputations, compromise relationships, end careers, or could even induce victims in moments of fragility to extreme acts.

Of course, not all AI-generated audiovisual content is illicit, but it is still useful to consider some illegal uses scenarios.

The first question is whether our legal system is already equipped with the necessary antibodies to prevent or, at least, contain the abuse of the extraordinary possibilities that generative artificial intelligence can offer: the answer, while there may be room for improvement, is positive.

We discuss it here