A number of TikTok deepfakes have been called out by the celebrities whose likenesses have been stolen. These include MrBeast, Tom Hanks, and Gayle King.
The fake video of MrBeast claimed that viewers had been selected to receive an iPhone 15 Pro for just $2, leaving the YouTube star to question whether social media networks are prepared for deepfake scams …
What is a deepfake?
A deepfake is a video in which generative AI is used to fake footage of an individual, usually a celebrity, politician, or other public figure.
The better ones can look extremely convincing, usually combining real video footage of the person with AI-generated mouth movements to match the fake speech. The audio either splices together actual words and phrases from many hours of source footage, or generates realistic impersonations of the voice from the same training data.
Deepfakes obviously have huge potential for harm, from scamming people out of money through lending credibility to hoaxes to political disinformation intended to influence election results.
TikTok deepfakes
NBC reports on the MrBeast example.
YouTube star MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, is asking if social media platforms are prepared to deal with fake AI ads after a scam advertisement on TikTok featured a deepfake of him offering $2 iPhones.
“Lots of people are getting this deepfake scam ad of me … are social media platforms ready to handle the rise of AI deepfakes? This is a serious problem,” Donaldson posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. When asked for comment, a spokesperson for Donaldson directed NBC News to the post.
TikTok said that it had removed the video, and pointed to its policy requiring the disclosure of synthetic or manipulated media.
CNET reports that Tom Hanks is another victim, with his likeness used to promote a dental plan.
Tom Hanks is pretty recognizable, whether he’s holding a box of chocolates in Forrest Gump or wearing a space suit in Apollo 13. But should you see a dental insurance ad with his picture, look twice. It’s not really the Oscar-winning actor.
“Beware!” Hanks wrote on Instagram this weekend. “There’s a video out there promoting some dental plan with an AI version of me. I have nothing to do with it.”
CBS Mornings host Gayle King likewise.
King made a similar post on Instagram on Monday.
“People keep sending me this video and asking about this product and I have NOTHING to do with this company,” King wrote. “I posted this video promoting my radio show on August 31 (swipe to see the original), and they’ve manipulated my voice and video to make it seem like I’m promoting it … I’ve never heard of this product or used it! Please don’t be fooled by these AI videos.”
NYU professor calls for TikTok ban
The broader controversy over the Chinese-run short video app continues, with many fearing that the algorithmically generated feeds can be used to feed pro-Chinese and anti-Western content to users.
TNW reports NYU professor Scott Galloway telling a conference in Helsinki that the app was a threat to national security.
Galloway described TikTok as probably “the most ascendant technology company in history” — and “a national defence threat” […] “They have implanted a neural jack into the web matter of our youth,” Galloway said […]
Galloway fears this audience is being brainwashed by the CCP. “If I were them, I would put my thumb delicately, insidiously, covertly, elegantly, on the scale of anti-Western content and on the scale of pro-China content,” he said.
Photo: Jakob Owens/Unsplash
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments