Author: o.grimeh

Deepfakes are a relatively new development that has improved drastically, starting around 2018 and getting progressively better (Baker & Capestany, 2018). Deepfakes, in general, are fake but realistic videos that can mimic both real and non-existent people, especially in its uncanny resemblance to realistic motions and voices. There are many interesting and funny videos on one hand, but there are other videos that show how scary this technology can be. For one thing, deepfakes can allow anyone to imitate famous people or politicians. In addition, this can have far-reaching consequences, especially in terms of credibility as well as the ability to figure out what is truly occurring.

Besides this, the damage to reputation and other harm due to people believing in these images or videos are another issue. However, there has been some work done, such as with the U.S. Defense Department’s forensic tool to detect AI and fake news (Knight, 2018).  This seems to be leading to a security-related arms race, as the AI and cybersecurity fields are rapidly developing recently, and their applications to not just industry but to defense and security are becoming explored.

 

References:

Baker, H., & Capestany, C. (2018, September 27). It’s Getting Harder to Spot a Deep Fake Video. Retrieved September 13, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLoI9hAX9dw

Knight, W. (2018, August 7). The Defense Department has produced the first tools for catching deepfakes. Retrieved September 13, 2020, from http://technologyreview.com/2018/08/07/66640/the-defense-department-has-produced-the-first-tools-for-catching-deepfakes/

Multilateralism can be defined as unbiased trade and equal footing in foreign policy as well trade policy. One example of multilateralism is the United Nations, which is a way of allowing for multiple, more democratic and even distribution in trade and foreign policy. On the other hand, unilateralism is a tendency of a country to conduct themselves on their own, without consulting others.

Nowadays, there has been more divide between China and various European countries in their trade policy. This is allowing for the divergence of the economic and trade cooperation between China and various European countries. Prior to recent events, this has been more of a multilateral relationship. However, there is a more mixed relationship economically between China and Europe, along with not just economic but social values. This is very different from the United States, which is trying to take a more unilateral approach by trying to become more self-sufficient and decrease reliance on China in its economic reliance to Chinese manufacturing and relationships.

The United States policy and approach can be viewed more as unilateral in terms of trade policy, while for the European countries that have been long trading partners with China, such as Germany, this has been more of a switch recently from multilateral towards less reliance and economic policy.

 

References:

Johnson, K. (2020, June 25). How Europe Fell Out of Love With China. Retrieved September 06, 2020, from https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/06/25/china-europe-rival-strategic-competitor-huawei/