Employers

Deepfake professionals are employed by large tech companies such as Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Adobe, and Amazon; other companies that conduct research on machine learning or use this technology to create deepfakes or identify them; and computer security firms (such as McAfee, which has a Deepfakes Lab). They also work for government agencies (such as the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) that use this technology or conduct research to identify deepfakes that may affect national security. Some deepfake professionals operate their own consulting firms and provide expertise to companies, government agencies, and other employers.

Starting Out

Some aspiring deepfake professionals break into the field after performing well during college internships or co-ops and being offered full-time jobs. Others obtain job leads by reaching out to their personal and professional networks, attending career fairs, making contacts via information interviews or other career exploration opportunities, using the services of recruiters, and applying for jobs directly at the Web sites of their target employers.

A deepfake professional can advance by receiving pay raises, by being promoted to managerial- or executive-level positions (such as director of machine learning or deepfake technology), by working at a more prestigious employer, and by opening their own consulting or deepfake technology firms. Some deepfake professionals write books or journal articles about the field and become well-known experts in the media and in their industry. Others choose to educate the next generation of deepfake professionals by working as educators at colleges and universities.

Become active in your school’s computer club or local technology groups.

Read IEEE Computational Intelligence Magazine (https://cis.ieee.org/publications/ci-magazine) and AI Magazine (https://aaai.org/ai-magazine) to learn more about the field.

Participate in internships and cooperative educational experiences to build your skills, make networking contacts, and get noticed by hiring managers.