Taylor Swift seeks to shield her image from AI: what do cybersecurity experts say?

Therefore, by registering her iconic costume or pose, the artist confronts the abuse of her aesthetics with unauthorized avatars, also marking a roadmap for other public figures who also want to protect their image.

It is not enough against ‘Deepfakes’

However, experts in cybersecurity and the use of AI from the company Check Point Software Technologies have warned that this legal shield “will not be enough to stop the direct impact of the ‘deepfakes’” that Swift has been facing, given that the law “is reactive to the speed of the algorithm.”

“Although these legal actions are historic steps,” impersonation technology requires real-time responses, such as content marking or ‘watermaking’, in order to prevent “the identity of celebrities from being used as a weapon of mass misinformation,” the company has detailed.

This is because registering a trademark does not prevent a ‘deepfake’ from being created as such, but really only allows the person or company that owns the AI ​​that generated the ‘deepfake’ to be sued “once the damage has already been done.”

Taking this into account and given the speed with which AI acts, the ‘deepfake’ with Taylor Swift “the damage spreads faster” than any intervention by a court in this regard, as highlighted by the technical director of Check Point Software for Spain and Portugal, Eusebio Nieva.

Thus, he has made reference to the AI ​​campaign using the singer’s image during the last US elections, which reached “millions of people before it could be effectively countered.”

Real protection systems

Therefore, Nieva has stressed that real protection against this unauthorized use of personal images involves a “layered approach.” That is, a set of detection systems, mechanisms that prove the origin of the content and education of users so that they are able to identify manipulations.

“With new elections on the horizon, the challenge is not only technological or legal, but also public confidence in distinguishing what is real and what is not,” said the cybersecurity expert.

With all this, Check Point is committed to, in addition to legal means, using watermarks or labels that identify that content has been generated or modified with AI, avoiding sharing misleading information or creating uncertainty among users.

It is worth remembering that Taylor Swift’s case is not isolated, but rather consolidates a trend of artists and well-known figures to protect their image. This is the case of actor Matthew McConaughey, who recently also registered his well-known 1993 slogan, “All right, all right, all right,” along with other protections over his image and voice.