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“I’ve travelled across our beautiful royal island to share the news and tell you about the platform that will change our lives for the better,” says what looks at first glance like Labour Party leader Keir Starmer.<\/p>\n
He is speaking to a camera, singing the praises of a new passive income programme that can earn anyone in the UK up to \u00a37,000 a week, and assures it has been developed with the Government “which means we have no reason to fear or doubt”.<\/p>\n
It is odd, as those who promote such get-rich-quick schemes are usually social media influencers or the very people who benefit from any profit gained, not a politician and least of all the leader of the opposition.<\/p>\n
But something is off. Sir Keir’s mouth, though moving, seems independent of itself and entirely separate from the rest of his face and, on closer inspection, it doesn’t look like his mouth at all.<\/p>\n
That’s because it’s not, and the video is, in fact, a deepfake: an artificial intelligence (AI) powered device used to make people look as though they are saying things they’re not, or in scenarios they have never been, and something which Lord Simon McDonald, the UK’s former top civil servant, has cautioned over.<\/p>\n
READ MORE <\/strong> Artificial Intelligence’s rapid rise and how it ‘could tear us apart\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n The former Head of the Diplomatic service’s warning comes as the UK slowly but inevitably heads towards an election that in all likelihood will take place next year.<\/p>\n Asked whether AI and deepfakes will play a part in the run-up to things, Lord McDonald, who served various governments for 38 years before resigning in 2020, told Express.co.uk: “Yes, and it means we have to be very vigilant.”<\/p>\n It wasn’t the first time Sir Keir has been victim to a deepfake as the Labour leader, who is the favourite to win the next election, in October found himself at the centre of UK politics’ first deepfake moment.<\/p>\n In an audio clip, he is heard shouting and swearing at a staffer, a completely fictional and imaginary scenario in which no one partook besides the person who created it.<\/p>\n Artificial intelligence and deepfakes feature in Lord McDonald’s new book, Beyond Brittania: Reshaping UK Foreign Policy, and something he hopes is repeated throughout the regulatory world was acted on by MPs from across the political spectrum who, on learning of Sir Keir’s deep fake, swiftly warned that it was fake.<\/p>\n But this didn’t stop it from staying online and spreading like wildfire, and eventually getting 1.6 million views on X, formerly Twitter, a timeframe and figure that could lead many to believe it is real.<\/p>\n “When a fake is detected, the fact that it’s a fake needs to be very widely known very, very quickly,” said Lord McDonald.<\/p>\n “The media has a very important role to play in calling the fakes out, and regulation can require fakes to be labelled, and so regulators have their role, too.<\/p>\n “Wherever these fakes appear, whatever part of the political spectrum, I think all media outlets should be calling them out.”<\/p>\n Don’t miss… <\/strong> Russian deepfake of Vladimir Putin declaring martial law<\/h3>\n
Vladimir Putin \u2018will never die\u2019 as fears Russia could resurrect him \u2018with AI\u2019[REPORT] <\/strong>
Police investigating ‘deepfake’ audio of Sadiq Khan suggesting Remembrance move[LATEST] <\/strong>
Deepfakes warning as incredibly realistic voices and messages target Britons[INSIGHT] <\/strong><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/139\/590x\/secondary\/simon-mcdonald-diplomatic-service-5075531.jpg?r=1700499488536\")
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