Navigating the Realm of AI Deepfakes From A Celebrity Perspective

The Benefits and Pitfalls of Using AI To Create Deepfakes Is It Really All That Bad?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) deepfakes, the synthetic media created through advanced algorithms, have emerged as a double-edged sword in the entertainment industry. These manipulative marvels can alter a person’s appearance, voice, or behavior with such precision that it becomes challenging to distinguish the artificial from the real. While deepfakes have often been cast as villains, serving nefarious purposes like spreading misinformation or impersonation, some celebrities are choosing to embrace this technology for their own artistic and strategic advantages.

To be fair we can’t help but feel that it’s more of a gimmick to these people. They don’t understand that they are potentially playing with fire here. This technology is both worrying and concerning.

The Celestial Gains: Why Celebrities Opt for Deepfakes

So, let’s look into why celebrities may be looking to use AI to create deepfakes using their own image.

Expanding Horizons and Audience Reach

Deepfakes offer celebrities the tantalizing prospect of extending their influence and engaging diverse audiences. By facilitating multilingual interactions, cultural adaptability, or appealing to various demographics, deepfakes enable stars like Lionel Messi (there are countless of these AI app using his voice) to endorse products in multiple languages, broadening their global appeal. Messi even empowered online users to craft personalized video messages using his deepfake avatar, thus forging a deeper connection with his fan base.

We do agree that using deepfakes to be multilingual is a huge advantage, but we need to ensure that the message being shared needs to be accurate and not misleading. Let’s face it a lot of these translation services are not entirely accurate and can cause confusion in some instances.

Elevating Creativity and Artistic Expression

The creative spirit within celebrities could thrive with the assistance of deepfakes. These digital tools provide a canvas for experimentation across different roles, genres, styles, and formats that may be otherwise inaccessible. For instance, actress Salma Hayek’s portrayal of a fictionalized version of herself in a Black Mirror episode hinged on the use of deepfake technology. It allowed her to surrender her image to a production company, which employed a deepfake avatar for a TV drama, thereby expanding the horizons of her artistic endeavors.

Efficiency in Time and Money

Deepfakes offer the pragmatic advantage of time and cost savings. Celebrities can reduce their physical presence, travel commitments, or the need for reshoots. Instead, they can opt for efficient recording sessions and subsequently modify or edit their performances as required. For example, actress Jamie Yeo entered into an agreement with a financial technology firm, permitting the use of a deepfake version of herself for promotional content. She invested only a few hours in front of a green screen and in a recording studio to capture her face and voice, a far cry from the traditional exhaustive shoot schedules.

So what are hearing more than anything is the cost around using this type of tech. In the long run it could save people money, but what is the real cost of all this?

The Perils and Hurdles of Deepfakes in Celeb-dom

Let’s face it celebrities diving into the deepfake pool must be cautious, for it is not without its perils:

Loss of Control Over Image

Deepfakes harbor the potential to remove control and ownership of a celebrity’s image from their grasp. The manipulation or usage of their likeness by others could compromise their identity and reputation. The conundrum surrounding the ownership and rights to their image further complicates matters. Organizations like the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) in the US have raised alarm, cautioning against the existential threat AI poses to creative professionals. They advocate for more robust safeguards to protect their members from the misuse of AI.

Confronting Competition and Redundancy

Celebrities embracing deepfake technology may soon find themselves in competition with AI-generated counterparts or even see their positions threatened by these digital doppelgangers. The risk of slipping into obsolescence looms large, as AI continues to evolve and potentially outshine human celebrities in terms of quality and popularity. Researchers have even ventured into AI models capable of creating entirely original faces, voices, or music detached from any existing individuals or artists.

Let’s face it there are AI tools free to use like stable diffusion that allow you to create your own deepfakes. Sure you are required to have a powerful computer to achieve this, but the fact that it’s free to use makes it open to a wider audience.

Ethical and Social Conundrums

The ethical and social repercussions of deepfakes cast a shadow over celebrities and society as a whole. These ingenious creations can undermine trust, credibility, and authenticity in communication. They have the potential to spread misinformation, deception, and manipulation, leading to harm for individuals and communities. Hackers have already employed deepfakes to engineer fake audio or video calls impersonating trusted individuals or reputable organizations, raising profound ethical and social concerns.

The Perils and Hurdles of Deepfakes in Celeb-dom

Navigating the Deepfake Future

The future of deepfakes within the celebrity sphere is both promising and perilous. As technology progresses and deepfake creation becomes more accessible, their utilization by celebrities is likely to soar. Hence, there arises a pressing need for heightened awareness and education among celebrities and the public concerning the potential benefits and dangers of deepfakes.

Regulatory frameworks and oversight are equally imperative to ensure the ethical and responsible deployment of deepfakes within the realm of creativity. Deepfakes, it seems, are destined to remain a powerful but contentious tool within the entertainment industry.