An audio recording of your CEO making disparaging remarks about a competitor.
A text from one of your high-level executives to another talking about committing a crime.
A photo of your team holding signs with a fake political endorsement.
Except – none of them are real.
Deepfakes and other AI-generated content are being used to harm company and personal reputations at a growing rate. In a survey from Ironscales in 2024, 75% of the organizations surveyed said they experienced at least one deepfake-related incident within the last 12 months. That’s an astonishing number!
With the relative ease of creating this fake material and the fact that the images, videos, emails, texts, etc. sound and/or look very real, it’s hard for the public, and even the news media, to discern what is fact and what is fiction. And we know that with the vast reach of social media, misinformation spreads quickly.
This could lead to a major crisis in your business and it’s something you have to have on your radar.
Internal deepfakes and other manipulated content, while not broadcast to the world, are also alarming. A voicemail or email from your financial department asking for confidential information could be AI-generated, coming from a cybercriminal or a former, disgruntled employee.
A damaged reputation is of course what first comes to mind when you think about the impact of deepfakes and AI-generated content, but companies can also face stock-value losses, fraud-related costs, lawsuits, and other distractions that can interrupt, or even stop, day-to-day operations.
What can you do?
Educate yourself and your team. This is new territory for many of us and technology changes daily. Sign up for trusted newsletters or follow industry experts online that share up to date information.
Use AI-driven tools to help detect deepfakes.
Confirm. Confirm. Confirm. Pick up the phone and ensure the source sending the email/text/image, etc. is real.
Monitor your social media and if something does come up, have a crisis plan in place.
Crisis planning and management has been a core service at WordWrite for decades and we are here for you as you navigate this changing landscape and challenging new threats.
Feel free to give me a call or send me an email to get the conversation started on how you can best protect yourself and your company in the era of AI.
And yes, if you were wondering, the image above was generated with AI!
