At CES 2024, McAfee presented a technology for detecting audio deepfakes based on artificial intelligence called Project Mockingbird.

The specified patented technology is designed to protect users from the threat of cybercriminals who use audio recordings created using machine intelligence for illegal purposes. Currently, an increase in the risk of the implementation of the corresponding threat is being recorded in the virtual space. Audio materials created with the help of artificial intelligence are used by criminals for fraud. Also, such content is a tool of manipulation in the public environment and a means of intimidating victims.

Modern artificial intelligence-based mechanisms provide cybercriminals with the opportunity to create the most realistic audio materials. The technology of cloning the voices of living people allows you to generate content ostensibly on behalf of family members in need of urgent financial assistance. Criminals also use artificial intelligence to create fake videos. Against this background, for people interacting with virtual space, there is a problem that the content generated by AI for deception or manipulation is extremely difficult to distinguish from reliable materials.

McAfee has developed an artificial intelligence model to counter the specified challenges of modern technological reality. This AI configuration is called Project Mockingbird. The artificial intelligence model created by McAfee can detect the sound that was generated by the AI. This technology uses contextual, behavioral, and categorical identification models. The developers claim that the accuracy rate of the digital product was fixed at around 90%.

Steve Grobman, technical director at McAfee, said that like a weather forecast indicating a 70% chance of rain and helping to plan the day, the artificial intelligence system created by the company provides consumers with information that allows them to make decisions about the reliability of the content.

Project Mockingbird offers various solutions in the fight against fakes, including countering fraud carried out using generative artificial intelligence and countering disinformation. In this case, users have the opportunity to distinguish genuine content from materials created using AI.

McAfee strives to protect users from attacks by scammers. The company’s goal is also to provide a secure digital experience.

Against the background of the scaling up of the use of deepfake technologies, consumer concerns about this threat are growing. The results of a McAfee study conducted in December indicate that 84% of the surveyed residents of the United States are concerned about content-generation tools. At the same time, it was found that the anxiety level of 68% of respondents on the relevant issue has increased over the past 12 months.

Also, 33% of the survey participants were victims or witnesses of fraud committed by the application of artificial intelligence.

The most common areas of using deepfakes include influencing elections, reducing public confidence in the media, allegedly acting on behalf of famous persons, creating prohibited content, and committing crimes and intimidation in the cyber environment.

Project Mockingbird is a significant step forward in efforts to counter threats posed by artificial intelligence. In the run-up to the elections in the United States and the United Kingdom, the issue of combating the spread of AI-generated content is growing in urgency. Deepfakes can influence the results of an election campaign.

As we have reported earlier, Reality Defender Raises $15 Million to Detect Deepfakes.