Topical Collection on "Between Bytes and Belief: Navigating the Deepfake Landscape"

A topical collection of Digital Technologies Research and Applications (DTRA) (E-ISSN: 2754-5687).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2024

Collection Editor:

Dr. Zahid Akhtar
Department of Network and Computer Security, State University of New York Polytechnic Institute, Utica, NY 13502, USA
Research Interests: machine learning; biometrics; cyber security; computer vision; affective computing

Topical Collection Information:

Dear Colleagues,

The recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are widely being exploited in various domains such as autonomous vehicles, cybersecurity defenses, medicines, etc. The AI and ML advanced algorithms are employed to create highly realistic and deceptive videos or audios known as deepfakes. These manipulations often involve the seamless integration of a person's likeness onto existing footage, resulting in content that appears authentic but is entirely fabricated. The proliferation of deepfake technology has ignited broad apprehensions regarding its potential for misuse in disseminating misinformation, manipulating political narratives, and facilitating identity theft. A continuous cat-and-mouse game unfolds between the methods employed for detecting deepfakes and those used in their generation. As the technology evolves, the need for robust countermeasures and ethical guidelines becomes crucial to mitigate the negative impact of deepfakes on individuals, institutions, cyberspace, and the broader societal landscape. Addressing the cyber, digital, ethical, legal, and social implications of deepfakes is essential for maintaining trust and authenticity in an increasingly digital world.

This topical Collection seeks original research, theoretical articles, and critical reviews to enhance comprehension and stimulate discourse on the practical implications of deepfakes, potential interventions, and viable solutions to the anticipated challenges.

Topics of interest of this topical Collection include, but are not limited to:

The creation of audio, video, and text-based deepfakes, including face morphing, manipulation, and multimedia adversarial attacks.
Creating synthetic faces through ML/AI techniques.
Detecting deepfakes, face morphing, manipulation, and adversarial attacks, with a focus on developing generalizable systems.
The generation and detection of audio deepfakes.
Introducing novel datasets and experimental protocols to support research in deepfakes and face manipulations.
Formulating and extracting deepfake devices, platforms, and software/app fingerprints.
Human vs machines in the context of deepfakes, face morphing, manipulation, and adversarial attacks, and exploring their vulnerabilities to digital face manipulations.
Exploring the impact of deepfakes in legal proceedings and their implications on copyright law.
Investigating the social and psychological aspects of deepfakes.
Conducting a comprehensive analysis of cases involving deepfake evidence.
Examining the applicability of traditional multimedia forensic methods and techniques to deepfake media.

Dr. Zahid Akhtar
Collection Editor

Keywords:

deepfakes
audio deepfakes
video deepfakes
AI generated multimedia
digital face manipulations
digital forensics
fake news
multimedia manipulations
generative AI
security and privacy
information authenticity
face morphing attack
biometrics
deepfake media evidence
digital investigation
multimedia forensics
digital forensics

Manuscript Submission Information:

Please visit the Submissions Guidelines page before submitting a manuscript. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Manuscripts should be submitted online through the online manuscript submission and editorial system. Additionally, please include a cover letter specifying that the manuscript is intended for the Topical Collection "Between Bytes and Belief: Navigating the Deepfake Landscape" when submitting it online. Manuscripts can be submitted until the submission deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal and will be listed together on the Topical Collection website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract can be sent to the Editorial Office dtra@ukscip.com for announcement on this website.

The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 300 USD. Authors who are unable to cover this cost or those who are invited to submit papers may be eligible for discounts or waivers.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process.

Published Papers:

This Topical Collection is now open for submission.