Bay Area Teen Showcases Deepfake Detection Research At Conference

India-West Staff Reporter

DANVILLE, CA – As October marks Cybersecurity Awareness Month, 17-year-old Vaishnav Anand, a student at The Athenian School, is working to  turning awareness into action through pioneering research in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.

On October 11, he presented his work on GAN-based deepfake detection in satellite imagery at the IEEE Undergraduate Research Technology Conference (URTC) hosted by MIT. Among 164 global presenters, he was one of the few high school students selected to speak alongside undergraduates from universities such as Carnegie Mellon, UCLA, and Georgia Tech.

His research, which now incorporates diffusion models to achieve up to 99% accuracy in identifying falsified satellite images, drew praise for its technical depth and relevance to geospatial integrity and national security.

Beyond research, Vaishnav aims to make cybersecurity education accessible to youth. His book ‘Cybersecurity,’ the first in his ‘Tech Demystified’ series, simplifies online safety and privacy concepts and is now used in youth programs nationwide. His upcoming book, ‘AI and Deepfakes,’ will explore artificial intelligence’s double-edged role in society.