Most of us have seen evidence of deepfake videos over the last couple of years, but few of them have been as unnerving as this one.
Examples of deepfakes in recent times have been videos of various politicians - like the one that Jordan Peele produced of Obama - which use Artificial Intelligence in order to trick people into believing that they are real.
However, this video of Bill Hader impersonating Tom Cruise and Seth Rogen in an old interview with David Letterman is especially eerie.
Hader's vocal impersonation of his fellow actors is real. However, when his face appears to morph into both Cruise and Rogen, you'll be rubbing your eyes wondering if you're imagining things.
The video, which is the work of Ctrl Shift Face, was uploaded in recent days and has attracted a lot of attention purely because it's so well-done. However, some have suggested that the implications for deepfake videos going forward are more troubling than you may think.
Irish Twitter user @gavinsblogs shared the video yesterday and revealed that some people had indeed, taken it seriously:
Some things to note since this went viral:
1) A person asked if it was a genuine shapeshifter (!)
2) Qanon/Trump people said this came out now because it's connected to Epstein or is "deep state" training
3) Others wondered how Hader was able to do it (some jokingly)— Gavin Sheridan (@gavinsblog) August 13, 2019
Who knows where this undeniably impressive technology will lead - but considering how much of a role the internet has played in global politics in recent years, it's an arguably worrying development. If AI is already this advanced, how will we know what's 'real' and what's not in future?
