It is likely that many have heard the term deepfake mentioned without knowing what it is about. This refers to a technique within artificial intelligence that allows the editing of false audiovisual material by replicating the image or voice of a person through the use of unsupervised learning algorithms, as well as videos or images.
Once finished, the realism of the final material is remarkable. Much of the use that has been given to this technique has been within the artistic field in the making of series and movies.
However, it was recently revealed that the Rotterdam Police in the Netherlands resorted to the use of deepfake to, with the authorization of his relatives, create a video showing Sedar Soaresa teenager who in 2003 was shot to death while playing in the snow with his friends in the parking lot of a metro station in this city.
In the video, the boy asks viewers for help to solve his death and find those responsible for such a heinous act. Also, the teenager recreated with deepfake requested help for others who suffered the same fate and whose case is still open. So far, the material is the first of its kind.
Playing the video shows the surface of a soccer field with Soares shown in first person waving at the camera and then picking up a ball.
This is followed by soulful music playing in the background as the boy makes his way through a line of honor made up of family, friends and acquaintances, accompanied by a voice with the following words:
Someone must know who murdered my dear brother. That is why he has come back to life in this movie. Do you know more? Well talk.
Following the video’s release, Rotterdam police spokeswoman Lillian Van Duijvenbode said have received a lot of cluesalthough these still need to be reviewed to determine how useful their contribution is to solve the Soares case.
As for the boy’s murder, it was initially thought that he had been shot in response to throwing snowballs at a car.
Over time it was determined that the boy was simply involved in an unfortunate situation of being in the wrong time and place, with the gang confrontation being the theory that resonates most in this case.
