National Police Agency and Germany Begin Development of System to Detect Manipulated and False Content

The police, in collaboration with the North Rhine-Westphalia Police in Germany, have officially begun developing a system to determine the authenticity of manipulated and false content.

Police Agency building. Photo by Kim Hyunmin

The National Police Agency announced that at 10:00 a.m. on May 26, a kick-off briefing for the 'Development of a System to Determine the Authenticity of Manipulated and False Content' was held at the Eoulrim Madang of the National Police Agency in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul.

This research marks the first case of an international joint study in scientific policing between Korea and Germany. It is the result of a series of collaborations, including the signing of a joint letter of intent between the National Police Agency’s Future Policing Policy Bureau and the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ministry of the Interior of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) in 2023, the opening of the Korea-Germany Scientific Policing Cooperation Center in 2024, and the dispatch of police officers.

The development of the authenticity determination system for manipulated and false content will run until 2027, aiming to build datasets and develop an integrated system to detect the explosively increasing manipulated fake content, which has become more prevalent with the widespread use of generative artificial intelligence (AI).

This year, the project will focus on building datasets and advancing detection models for AI-manipulated videos (deepfakes), deep voice, and fake news. Starting next year, the project will enhance the performance of the integrated detection system, which is based on automating the entire process from machine learning model development to deployment and operation, and will conduct demonstration tests.

A police official stated, "This is significant as it marks the first step not only in simple R&D cooperation between countries, but also in launching a joint response that brings together the scientific policing capabilities of both nations to address future security threats, with the aim of expanding to other countries in the future." The official added, "We hope this research will provide solutions to the problem of manipulated and false content through datasets based on diversity and fair algorithms."