KAPAMILYA host Amy Perez has warned her followers not to believe an edited video circulating on Facebook that made it appear that she uses and endorses a drug for women dealing with menopause.
Speaking with ABS-CBN News on Wednesday, April 10, Perez said that an interview she had done with a doctor for her now-defunct morning show on DZMM Teleradyo was turned into a deepfake, or a video that has been manipulated with the use of artificial intelligence, or AI.
“Nag-appear siya sa feed ng isang kaibigan ko. Pinadala niya ‘yung link sa’kin, sabi niya, ‘Mars, ikaw ba ‘to?’ Pinakinggan ko. Hay, parang boses ko talaga! Ang galing, ‘di ba, pero sobrang nakakatakot,” shared Perez.
Perez said, neither she nor the doctor she spoke with had mentioned any product during that interview.
The drug that was being promoted in the deepfake, called Hormo Balance, is not actually registered with the Food and Drug Administration either, despite claims that it is.
“False lahat ‘yun. Hindi ko ‘yun binanggit ever. Hindi ko tinatake ‘yung gamot na ‘yun ever. Ang nakakalungkot doon, ang daming babaeng nagko-comment, tinatanong nila, magkano ‘yung produkto,” she said.
“I-check po natin nang maigi muna bago po kayo bibili ng isang produkto. Para rin po ‘yun sa sarili ninyong safety,” she said as a warning to her fans.
Spotting Deepfakes
An expert on AI has shared some tips on how to spot deepfakes amid the spread of fake ads online featuring several Filipino TV and news personalities.
Data ethicist Dominic Ligot said one tell-tale sign that a video is fake is when the footage is spliced yet the audio track remains smooth all throughout.
There are also times when the movements of the speakers’ lips are not in sync with the audio track.
“Para siyang dinub. In fact, that was where this technology started, to make the dubbed videos more natural,” said Ligot.
According to Ligot, scammers would sometimes just loop one clip over and over too.
Filipinos can also catch deepfakes by listening for weird pronunciation of words or intonation.
“Pesos becomes ‘pey-soz’, kasi nga these technologies were developed in English. Hindi naman ‘yan ‘yung the way we say it in the Philippines,” said Ligot.
But as AI evolves, Ligot warned that it will only get harder to distinguish edited videos from real ones.
That’s why he wants netizens to also be skeptical about the message being relayed by a post or a video they see online.
He also encouraged the public to report such videos to social media platforms, to authorities, and to the person being impersonated.
And instead of believing online ads, the Department of Health said it’s much better to consult with a doctor for medical concerns. (ABS-CBN News)
