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HF Hany Farid On Click Here

“When we do an analysis and we find an inconsistent shadow or lighting or reflection or geometry, we usually get to the other end and say, okay, we found something that is evidence of manipulation or AI generation. … But when you don't, when you run the battery of tests, you get to the end and you say, well, we found no evidence of manipulation. And that's not the same as saying something is real or authentic. It's subtly but really importantly different.”

Click Here · Software Engineering & Infra · October 2026

“When we do an analysis and we find an inconsistent shadow or lighting or reflection or geometry, we usually get to the other end and say, okay, we found something that is evidence of manipulation or AI generation. … But when you don't, when you run the battery of tests, you get to the end and you say, well, we found no evidence of manipulation. And that's not the same as saying something is real or authentic. It's subtly but really importantly different.” — Hany Farid, Click Here

Farid, a digital forensics expert, explains why proving an image is fake is easier than proving it is real. The host then points out the loophole this opens: anyone can dismiss genuine footage as a fake.

Click Here · 2026-10-20 Listen to the episode → More from Hany Farid → More Software Engineering & Infra quotes →

Transcript

Click Here Around 08:25 into the episode
Hany Farid

…views. So by the time the fact check goes out there, this content is everywhere. And setting the record straight is exceedingly difficult. I'm far more worried about that aspect of lies than I am about figuring out the truth. Time is not on our side because of the speed at which social media moves.

Dina Temple-Raston

There's also this strange imbalance. Hani can usually prove something is fake, but proving it's real is a lot harder.

Speaker 4

When we do an analysis and we find an inconsistent shadow or lighting or reflection or geometry or some pattern, we usually get to the other end and say, okay, we found something that is evidence of manipulation or AI generation. And you can hang your hand on that. But when you don't, when you run the battery of tests, you sort of get to the end and you say, well, we found no evidence of manipulation. And that's not the same as saying something is real or authentic. It's subtly but really importantly different.

Dina Temple-Raston

And that distinction has created a rather convenient loophole. Because now, even when there's no evidence that something is fake, you can just say it is. Consider Donald Trump. Back in 2016, a recording surfaced of him talking about women with an access Hollywood host.

Speaker 4

I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. I don't even know what. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Whatever

Speaker 3

you want.

Speaker names from our own diarization · position estimated from where the line sits in the episode

More from Click Here

“You are in a lab setting. We've set you up for success. It is not politically charged. It is not emotionally charged. Now, imagine you are in social media, doom scrolling, politically charged, emotionally charged. You're way worse at it in that situation, but they don't know it. … I don't mind you being bad at something as long as you know you're bad at it, but they're bad at it and they're confident in the wrong assessment.” — Hany Farid, Click Here “I was amazed every day that I didn't get caught. Towards the end, I was looking at, you know, hundreds of documents a day. There's no legitimate business need to look at hundreds of documents a day.” — Frances Haugen, Click Here