This 17 year old student created an AI to detect deepfakes

Talent doesn’t wait for the number of years and Greg Tarr, a 17-year-old Irish high school student who lives in Cork City, has proven it again. The young man actually won the competition BT Young Scientist & Technology, a competition for students from across the country designed to stimulate interest in scientific and technological innovations.

A more efficient tool than the existing systems?

Greg Tarr developed an artificial intelligence system that can detect deepfakes. As a reminder, these are techniques that make it possible to create fake videos or very realistic vowel extracts and get someone to say things they didn’t say. According to Irish timeThe student insisted on his presentation on the harmful social effects of these creations. For example, they can influence the course of an election or cloud a person’s image.

The problem has become severe, so many researchers are trying to develop reliable detection tools. Greg Tarr analyzed several of them. He thinks they are effective but far too complex to be used on a large scale. The young man then decided to create his own artificial intelligence based on machine learning techniques.

The results seem to be there and convincing enough to convince the jury. The young man confirms that his tool is more precise and faster than the systems currently in use. He claims a 94.3% success rate due to a false speech by Queen Elizabeth II.

These competitions, which are reserved for young talent, often lead to very impressive innovations. For example, in 2019 we spoke to you about Alaina Gassler, a young American who was 14 years old at the time. A system has been developed to eliminate blind spots while driving. An achievement that is all the more remarkable given that this very annoying problem was never solved by the automakers.