Seeing used to be believing, but new video technology can trick the human eye in ways once impossible. Known as deep fake video, new software allows editors to swap faces in video with remarkable ease. The technology is so revolutionary that three lawmakers in America’s Congress as seeking an intelligence assessment. Read more on that latest news below after you take a look at this video from BBC Click, the BBC’s flagship technology programme, with an explanation of the technology and its potential dangers:

Today VOA – ENGLISH had the news about the Congressman taking action to investigate fake video and its political implications:

Three lawmakers want to see a U.S. intelligence assessment of the threat posed by technology that lets anyone make fake but realistic videos of real people saying things they never said. The rising capabilities of the technology are fueling concerns it could be used to make a bogus video, for example, of an American politician accepting a bribe or of a U.S. or foreign leader warning of an impending disaster.

The lawmakers wrote National Intelligence Director Dan Coats on Thursday asking for a report by mid-December that assesses how the bogus high-tech videos, known as deepfakes, could threaten U.S. national security. Democratic Reps. Adam Smith of California and Stephanie Murphy of Florida and Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo of Florida say they worry adversaries will use the fake videos to undermine American democracy.