Artificial intelligence, or commonly abbreviated as AI, was once just a figment of the human imagination, encapsulated in science fiction and philosophical debate. Today, it’s an increasingly prevalent facet of our reality, especially thanks to AI-powered enhancements in virtual photography and video. That can be accomplished in minutes. In fact, they’re so compelling that a new term has been coined to describe them: “deepfakes,” or AI-generated videos that employ stolen identities that are virtually indistinguishable from reality. And celebrities are increasingly vulnerable to deepfakes, leading to a dramatic accumulation of scandals and identity thefts due to those AI-based technologies.

When OpenAI’s ChatGPT burst onto the scene of helper robots and virtual assistants in November 2022, global as we knew it replaced it forever. Widely touted as the “next big thing” in synthetic intelligence, ChatGPT took users into an entirely new AI experience, almost taking competitors along. chatbots out of the water.  

Equipped with the ability to interpret, refine, and respond to user input and provide human-like matches, ChatGPT, as it stands today, is the epitome of synthetic intelligence. Thanks to its vast capabilities, authentic empathy, and likely infinite intelligence, ChatGPT has temporarily become the currency of the moment, marking a major shift in the use of AI in business, content creation, and the content creation industry. Those who master ChatGPT have acquired a valuable tool, reaping benefits from a breakthrough and power in either. the pro and private spheres; Those who did not fear for their jobs and for the future of humanity.  

Obviously, ChatGPT is reminiscent of the wonders of Tony Stark’s AI assistants. First he brought Marvel’s now-legendary MCU, J. A. R. V. I. S. , and F. R. I. D. A. Y. they were the crème de los angeles crème of synthetic intelligence, touted as the most productive in a universe inhabited by Norse deities and the Incredible Hulks. However, while Stark’s generation seemed out of reach for humanity, the day has come. when we can close angelesim to be our peers in terms of progress, equating AI with its role in our lives.  

However, the sad truth is far less inspiring. The technology has noticed immediate advances in recent years, extending its first days of existence. This has sparked much debate among contemporaries, with all expressing fear about the negative ramifications and potential threats posed by the unregulated expansion of AI-based systems.

The public is the only one who distrusts synthetic intelligence. Last March, more than 1,000 generation leaders and researchers called in an open letter for a pause in the progression of highly complex AI systems, pointing to “profound dangers to society and humanity. “”.  

This collective sentiment echoes that of the industry’s biggest players, including tech billionaire Elon Musk, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Rachel Bronson, president of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the organization that fights against the doomsday clock. According to a letter from the nonprofit Future of Life Institute, AI expanders were “caught in an uncontrollable race to expand and deploy virtual minds even tougher than anyone, not even their creators, can reliably understand, predict, or control. ” 

In the realm of unbridled ambition for AI, the question arises: how can we, too, move forward in the pursuit of technological progress? 

Despite its nonchalant assimilation into the fashionable world, the unsettling consequences of synthetic intelligence have proved hard to ignore. Lately, popular media content and warning stories of real-life incidents have provided an unsettling glimpse of a world where AI rots in its hands.  

In particular, the social ramifications of AI-generated deepfakes reached a mid-level in Netflix’s mind-blowing dystopian anthology series, Black Mirror. The first episode of the sixth season, Joan Is Awful, follows Joan Tait (played by Annie Murphy) as she discovers herself. the unintentional topic of an AI-generated program.  

As humans are accustomed to doing, Joan is a sinful woman who struggles to do the right thing. However, things change when she discovers a TV show called Joan Is Awful on the fictional streaming platform Streamberry (inspired and parody of Netflix), in which her daily life, exploits and misdeeds are portrayed through actress Salma Hayek.

As a result of the series, Joan loses her fiancé and her job, and her efforts to prevent the series from proving futile after Hayek herself is powerless in the face of the network’s use of her image.  

The episode delivers a vivid, frightening, and thought-provoking animated film about generative AI and its occasionally debilitating effect on society. From the bizarre idea that our electronic devices are spying on us to the terrifying prospect of unsupervised generative AI. , Joan Is Awful offers limitless observation into the security and privacy threats we now face from within.

As unsettling as it is to see the dire consequences of AI spread across the screen, its real-life parallels are just as alarming, if not more so. Of note is the recent dispute between actress Scarlett Johansson and OpenAI (famous for ChatGPT), as well as the latter’s progression and the use of a private AI virtual assistant, “Sky”, whose voice remarkably resembles Johansson’s. While “Sky” was first released to the public in September 2023, it only recently gained notoriety following a live demonstration by OpenAI. .  

Observers’ comparisons between “Sky” and Johansson touch close to home;  In the past, Johansson starred in Spike Jonze’s Her (2013), where she lent her voice to play a hugely intelligent AI assistant named Samantha. In a statement, Johansson revealed that she was approached through OpenAI to give the assistant a voice, but she declined to participate.

However, the actress has since expressed her shock, anger, and disbelief over the release of “Sky. “To further fuel the controversy, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman appeared to criticize Johansson’s portrayal of Samantha, with a May 13 tweet that has since disappeared. viral: “Her. ” 

Johansson also addressed the tweet in her statement, saying, “Mr. Altman even hinted that the similarity was intentional, tweeting a single word “she,” a reference to the movie in which I voiced a system of Samantha’s cats, which bureaucrizes an intimate date with a human.  

While OpenAI has since pulled the plug on “Sky,” Johansson responds correctly, and her legal suggestion is now not an easy explanation for how her progression took place.  

Outside the realm of celebrities and television, deepfakes have also claimed victims among streamers and online influencers. In January 2023, Twitch streamer Brandon “Atrioc” Ewing’s career came to an abrupt halt when he accidentally revealed that he possessed deepfake content particular to popular women. Twitch streamers. Ewing’s loss occurred while he was broadcasting live; A misclick brought up a tab on a paid site showing deepfakes of his female streaming colleagues, several of whom she counted among his real-life friends.  

Although Ewing has since apologized through tears, his career is unlikely to recover. However, the consequences are even more heartbreaking for the female streamers involved, many of whom were unaware that their deepfakes circulated in this way.  

Once left in the hands of Photoshop experts, photo and video editing has become imaginable to the average layman thanks to the rise of AI-based tools. Given how simple it is to erase all photo enhancements, decorate videos, and even overlay AI-generated audio. , you’ll have the best recipe for disaster. From phishing cases to unscrupulous marketing involving AI-generated celebrity endorsements, deepfakes are quickly taking over the world and claiming a significant number of victims in their wake.  

Due to existing technological advancements, there are many compelling deepfakes on the web. However, it is imaginable to distinguish truth from imagination, and with enough practice, even the most gullible web users deserve to be able to distinguish anything created employing generative AI. According to Norton, a leading antivirus and security software company, web users can detect deepfakes by looking for unnatural colors, faces, frames, and eye movements, as well as uncomfortable facial postures and features. Other symptoms of generative AI come with an obvious lack of emotion, abnormally better hair and teeth, visual discrepancies such as blurriness and misalignment, and inconsistent sound.  

While it’s not unusual for laypeople to fall victim to deepfakes, the threat is magnified a thousandfold for celebrities living their lives in the spotlight. From Taylor Swift and Maisie Williams to Gal Gadot and Emma Watson, many female celebrities have had their portraits taken. used and manipulated for sexually particular deepfakes, many of which remain unregulated on the internet.   And while this warrants further discussion about legislation and regulations, it cannot be done without raising awareness about it.  

Here are a few celebrities who have found themselves in the middle of deepfake scandals, from targeted viral smear campaigns on X (formerly Twitter) and questionable endorsements to data thefts. None of this is true and all of this is troubling.  

You’re not the world’s most prominent user without suffering from a few fools, and in Taylor Swift’s case, a lot of fools. The record-breaking singer-songwriter proved beyond a doubt that everything she touches turns to gold. perhaps maximum dazzle on the Eras tour; Beyond the honor of becoming the world’s most successful trip, it has also generated billions in tourism revenue for host cities. And while the Chad and Brads would probably complain about “Taylor Swift fatigue,” marketers perceive that just mentioning their call is enough to get views, clicks, and ad dollars.  

In a world that hates to see an empowered woman succeed, it’s no wonder Taylor Swift has reluctantly been embroiled in deepfake scandals. Perhaps the most prominent case arose from her decade-long feud with arguable rapper Kanye West. Surprisingly, a nude figure of her was used, along with several other public figures, in West’s music video for Famous. Swift called this depiction “revenge porn”; However, this wouldn’t be the only time the singer would suffer such an unfortunate attack on her person.  

Earlier this year, netizens with questionable morals created and spread sexually specific deepfakes of Swift at a football match. Unsurprisingly, the photographs spread like wildfire on X (formerly Twitter), garnering more than forty-five million views and thousands of likes and favorites. And he reposts earlier even though it was all deleted 17 hours later.  

The attack prompted a statement from the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists which slammed the deepfakes, calling them “upsetting, harmful, and deeply concerning.” Echoing growing public unease about deepfakes, SAG-AFTRA continued, “The development and dissemination of fake images — especially those of a lewd nature — without someone’s consent must be made illegal.” 

In February, social media influencer and host of The Really Good Podcast Bobbi Althoff found herself dissatisfied with a deepfake scandal on X. The 26-year-old first thought she was trending on the social media platform because of a recent interview. Unbeknownst to Althoff, it had become the latest call for high-profile victims claimed through specific AI-generated deepfakes.  

Although Althoff knew the images were fake, he later shared that the total experience opened his eyes to the destructive effect of generative AI, especially when placed in the wrong hands. Speaking to Yahoo Entertainment, Althoff shared that the deepfakes even fooled his own team, who asked him, “We just have to ask ourselves: Is what we saw online real?” 

Unfortunately, X was slow to delete the photographs in circulation. And while the immediate fallout has since diminished, Althoff’s view will likely extend beyond the years to come. “AI is scary,” he shared. This global is scary. It’s getting scarier and scarier.  

One of the richest cooks in the world, Pioneer Woman founder Ree Drummond has twice been the unfortunate victim of celebrity deepfakes. In 2022, it became the center of controversy when AI-generated deepfakes gave the impression online, in which it promoted and endorsed the use of CBD gummies. While Drummond turned to Facebook at the time to set the record straight, another deepfake scandal would erupt in December 2023 that would sour its holiday spirit.  

In the most recent scandal, Drummond appeared in an AI-generated deepfake video to promote a fraudulent online campaign for Le Creuset. The video, aimed at social media users, featured giveaways as a way to obtain private information and money. Details of potential participants. Since then, Drummond, Le Creuset, and the Federal Trade Commission have come forward to denounce the video.

However, the Le Creuset deepfake has provided a chilling glimpse into the sinister aspect of generative AI, going beyond the simple symbol of a celebrity to promote products.  

In February, fake portraits of several celebrities, including Oprah Winfrey, Nigella Lawson and Piers Morgan, were used in a series of online classified ads selling a questionable self-help course through Wesley “Billion Dollar” Virgin. Virgin, which considers itself a motivational coach, has 1. 1 million fans on Instagram and claims a profit of $40 million.  

The self-help course, titled “Genie Script,” is billed as a “manifestation” program aimed at converting lives that supposedly “lack” Hebrew biblical scriptures, all for the low introductory value of $37.

In promotional deepfakes, the AI-generated personifications of Winfrey, Lawson, and Morgan how the show has helped them succeed in their respective careers and private lives.  

Reacting to the deepfakes, a representative of the real Nigella Lawson called them “fraudulent” and “very concerning. “Piers Morgan told the BBC that the announcement was “another example of a very worrying trend of public figures being misused through AI. “deepfake manipulators for monetary gain,” and then added, “The real victims will be members of the public who unknowingly buy those products believing that the celebrity endorsement is genuine.  

In another AI-generated video similar to the scandal, Oprah Winfrey appeared to congratulate the course by saying, “I need to give you a 20-word script. . . Think of it as installing a new operating formula. “in your mind, programmed to get you rich. The video, which was discovered in Meta’s ad library, showed original images interspersed with AI-manipulated audio. However, upon closer inspection, it was easily revealed to be a deepfake. A spokesperson for the genuine Oprah; He also denounced the video, saying the TV personality had nothing to do with Virgin or its product.   

Virgin, on the other hand, is willing to take on deepfakes. Speaking to the BBC, he claimed that the classified ads were “affiliate work” and that he was “in the process of banning them all. ” 

While issues related to classicism, foreign conflicts, and excessive poverty have reached a boiling point in recent months, it’s understandable that this year’s Met Gala is full of drama and controversy. Added to this is the media typhoon around social media influencer Haley Kalil (@haleybaylee), which unleashed an avalanche of negative repercussions on social media following her post at the Met Gala. The post, which showed off her lavish look at the Met Gala, used a TikTok-trending sound from Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette (2006) in which the main character gleefully declared, in front of hungry peasants, “Let them eat cake. ” 

While it cannot be proven that the genuine Marie Antoinette ever uttered those words, the silent TikTok post left a bitter taste in the mouths of netizens, leading to Kalil’s swift crucifixion on social media; However, she wouldn’t be the only star to be criticized. . In a move now hailed as the “digital guillotine,” TikTok users have begun blocking big-name celebrities, all in an effort to force them to acknowledge the horrors that exist in the world. And while it’s not yet clear whether Kalil’s influential career will affect his serious misstep, a vital detail emerged from the sediments of the evening: society has become vulnerable in its credulity.  

While neither Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Dua Lipa, or Katy Perry attended the 2024 Met Gala, fake photographs of the celebrities temporarily surfaced online, hinting at their presence at the event. Given the pristine and retouched nature of most red carpet photographs, it made sense that the masses would be fooled through AI renders. These deepfaux were so convincing that Perry’s own mother came over to congratulate her on her impressive functionality at the Met Gala; However, he was met with denial and amusement. After the incident, Perry remembers telling her mom, “Mdr, mom, you got AI, too. WATCH OUT!” 

For all intents and purposes, the deepfakes of the Met Gala seem harmless. Yet, in fact, they offer a bleak view of the future, and for clever reason. The increasing diffusion and misuse of generative AI is the breaking of humanity’s social contract. In fact, Perry herself has also addressed the potential dangers of AI; Earlier this year, he signed a petition along with two hundred other artists, urging tech platforms and virtual music facilities to prevent AI from “undermining and devaluing the rights of human artists. ” 

Last year, a very convincing deepfake by Morgan Freeman went viral on the internet, sparking debates about synthetic intelligence and its position in the fashion world. Published via the Dutch deepfake channel DIEP NEP on YouTube, the video owes its concept and production to Bob de Jong. with the dubbing of Boet Schouwink.  

Originally released in 2021, the deepfake gave the impression of being education-focused, with Freeman’s AI avatar even advertising itself as fake and starting the video by saying, “I’m not Morgan Freeman. “They point to a deeper discourse on synthetic intelligence and its use to create believable human interpretations.

(Main image: Taylor Swift/Instagram and Scarlett Johansson World/Instagram; featured image: Taylor Swift/Instagram)

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) 

– Who has been a victim of deepfakes? 

Several prominent personalities who have recently fallen victim to deepfakes include Taylor Swift, Bobbi Althoff, Nigella Lawson, Oprah Winfrey, and Piers Morgan.  

– Who are the victims of deepfakes? 

Many celebrities have fallen victim to deepfakes, Taylor Swift, Oprah Winfrey, Piers Morgan, Gal Gadot, Maisie Williams, Emma Watson, Rihanna, Katy Perry, and many more.  

– Which world-famous user appeared in a deepfake image? 

Taylor Swift was recently the victim of certain deepfake photographs that went viral on X (formerly Twitter).  

– What are deepfakes? 

Celebrity deepfakes take public figures and turn them into victims of identity theft. At its core, a celebrity deepfake is a digitally manipulated medium that is compelling, but ultimately fake. These media, occasionally created employing generative AI, can take the form of videos. , photographs, or audio. Deepfake creators also use images of celebrities to lend weight to their scams and endorsements; However, deepfakes also serve a more sinister purpose, particularly targeting women with the aim of generating sexually particular photographs for the purposes of defamation and degradation.  

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