Welcome to I Am Your Target Demographic.
Today we’re discussing a type of video that are called ‘deepfakes.’
Essentially, this is using technology to copy someone’s face and place it over someone else's face.
Let’s talk about how this might be possible.
"I thought I was your little munchkin but I was wrong."
The actual technology behind this is leagues beyond my expertise but let me try to distill
it down to leyman’s terms.
There are computer programs that can learn how a human face looks and works.
For example, they can import hours and hours of a person making every conceivable expression,
so this computer learns what it looks like when an eyebrow is raised or when they smile.
It creates a catalogue of these expressions.
And then, you can take a second video and now try to superimpose this first person onto this second face.
They take Tom Cruise’s face and superimpose
onto a Tom Cruise impersonator.
When the impersonator says a word, it can match that expression and pull from the source material.
Now, this is different than when we see completely CGI characters in films.
Let’s use Princess Leia’s appearance in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
They created her face, thinking they knew how a face looks, but it was easily distinguishable
as not real, because it lacked that special something.
You can often see right through these characters.
A deep fake might be taking older source material of that actor or actress, and then superimposing
onto a real person, acting the way that the character would.
This potentially opens up doors for films to feature actors and actresses
that are no longer with us, though that raises some ethical questions.
The term ‘deepfake’ was coined back in 2017 to explain these videos.
The deep refers to what is called ‘deep learning’ and how a computer program can
learn, and then creating something fake.
This sort of technology to create deepfake videos is becoming easier and easier to find
and use, so I know I’ve seen a huge increase lately with deepfake videos going viral, though
I’m admittedly late to the party.
While some of these older videos are pretty horrible, it’s gotten to the point where
it’s almost impossible to tell what's real.
This video of Bill Hader has been making the rounds, where his face shifts when he does
impressions, created by one of the most prominent deep fake creators Control Shift Face.
Bill Hader does Tom Cruise, Seth Rogen, and in another viral hit, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"And that was the big line in that movie... Open up the door, there's a bomb in there."
Now, it’s not always realistic, such as this disturbing video from Dr Fakenstein who
has superimposed the comedian and actor Nick Offerman onto every character in Full House.
He also created a hilarious Sesame Street rendition featuring two Keanu Reeves alongside
the late Maya Angelou.
The original here, compared to the deep fake featuring two Keanus.
Now, it gets a little more dangerous here with the ability to make something that looks realistic.
In a popular video featuring Jordan Peele acting as former President Obama, they showcase
how easy it is to use this technology for nefarious purposes.
Now, I know I’ve had many instances where friends and family believed something they
saw posted on social media, even though it was clearly from an unreliable source.
So imagine how many people will fall for something that appears to be real?
Imagine how this might affect upcoming elections.
Imagine how little it might take to ignite a civil war, or bring about World War III
when Kim Jong-un can’t tell that it’s not actually our President in the video he was shown.
So in the end, be careful what you trust because it’s easier and easier to fool the naked eye.
And that’s our introduction to deepfakes, thank you everyone for watching, and subscribe
for more stuff like this!