THE COUNCILLOR accused of making racist comments in a private conversation – which was recorded and posted online may be the victim of a ‘deep fake’, The Herald can reveal.

Cllr Andrew Edwards says he does not recall ever saying those words – and analysis of the recording has shown inconsistencies which are in line with an audio file which has been digitally manipulated.

Deep fake voices are synthesized or manipulated using machine learning algorithms, making them sound convincingly like real human voices.

To detect a deep fake voice in an audio file, there are a few things you can do:

1. Listen for inconsistencies: Deep fake voices may have slight variations in pitch, tone, or cadence that sound unusual or inconsistent with a real human voice. Pay close attention to these variations to determine if they sound unnatural.
2. Look for lip-syncing issues: In some cases, deep fake voices may be paired with video footage that doesn’t match up with the audio, causing lip-syncing issues. If you’re unsure if a voice is genuine, try watching the video and paying attention to the speaker’s lips.
3. Compare with known samples: If you have access to a known sample of the person’s voice, compare it to the audio file you’re analysing. This can help you identify any inconsistencies or variations that may be indicative of a deep fake voice.
4. Use specialized software: There are several software programs available that can help you detect deep fake voices in audio files. These programs analyse the audio for inconsistencies and use machine learning algorithms to determine the likelihood of the voice being real or synthetic.
   It’s important to note that detecting deep fake voices can be challenging, and it may require a combination of techniques to determine if an audio file is genuine or not – but why not have a listen to the recording and see if you can notice any of the inconsistencies described in points 1 to 4 above.

A former councillor, Cllr Paul Dowson, says he was the victim of fake social media content in 2020.

At the time he denied he shared images on social media that were racist, hateful to women and people of different religions.
Paul Dowson said the images, alleged by the union Unison to have come from his Facebook account, were “manufactured” by political opponents.

Speaking at the time he told reporters: “Give me 24 hours and I could come up with the same screenshots in your name.”

Mr Dowson “categorically” denied sharing the allegedly offensive posts.

He also denied he was racist.

Dowson was elected with a majority of four votes to represent the Pembroke Dock Central ward in 2017.

Mr Dowson said it was clear to him the posts had been “created by someone as part of their vendetta against me”.

Dowson said that it was more than credible that the audio file which is causing heat for Cllr Andrew Edwards has been manufactured by political opponents.

Dowson said: “Having heard the recording several times I would like to suggest that there is clearly gated compression in the clip which is a clear sign of manipulation.”

“The intonation of his speech and pitch of his words are not naturally flowing, and it sounds like the voice has been altered.”

“There are lots of apps and programs out there that can do this. Some of the software I am familiar with as a musician are more than capable of doing this.”

“If he is innocent I do feel for him as it seems therefore that there are people out there who are wanting to wreck his future – as they did mine.”