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How do encoder-decoder pairs work to create deepfakes?

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Drawn from Lutz Finger's Forbes column, LinkedIn writing, and Cornell teaching. Sources are cited inline so you can read the originals.

Extracting and reconstructing facial features to swap identities in images.

Encoder-decoder pairs are one of the main tools for creating deepfakes today. Going from an original image to a latent image is called encoding. Going from latent back to image is called decoding, similar to how you close your eyes and picture a cat based on knowledge stored in your brain. The encoder extracts latent features of face images, and the decoder reconstructs the face images from those features. To generate a deepfake, the decoder for the target draws the target image with the source’s latent features, such as expressions.

Overview Of How To Create Deepfakes - It’s Scarily Simple · Forbes


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