When Morgan Freeman suggested we question reality, his cunning deepfake video set Twitter’s nerves on edge - mainly because Freeman didn’t actually appear in the video.
Deepfakes - digitally altered video and audio - have been around since about 2017 and they’ve come a very long way.
From a faux Keanu Reeves to Steve Buscemi as Jennifer Lawrence, we compiled 15 unnerving celeb deepfakes to introduce you to the era of synthetic reality with a few tips about how to detect forgeries.
Much like Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible stunts, deeptomecruise deepfakes have a shock-and-awe impact. Can you spot the ‘tells’ that indicate actor Miles Fisher is really behind the pratfalls and stunts? Fisher nailed Cruise’s wildly entertaining laugh and expressions - so much so that even Fisher did a double take: “I’ll never forget the moment I first saw one of my videos deepfaked with my face replaced by Cruise’s. The lighting wasn’t uniform and there was a minor glitch behind the eyes, but the effect was still astonishing.” If you look closely, you’ll see moments where Fisher’s eyes and mouth glitch for a second, but you’ll need to stay sharp.
The Morgan Freeman Deepfake owned the Internet in 2022. Dubbed ‘the most realistic deepfake ever’, the uncanny resemblance to Freeman is terrifying and mesmerizing. The voice is that of Dutch voice actor Boet Schouwink. Watch closely as Fairchild says what you are seeing 'is not real' and announces the era of 'synthetic reality'. One Twitter user insists he’s discovered the nuance that proves this is a deepfake: "His facial expressions are not those of the real Morgan Freeman." Hmmmm. We’re not so sure…
Elizabeth Olsen vs Scarlett Johansson Deepfake
Who is real and which actress is a deepfake in this Scarlett Johansson vs Elizabeth Olsen challenge? Some Twitter viewers couldn’t decide which of the side-by-side videos were AI-generated. Hint: have a look at the area where the bangs fall on Scarlett’s face, making it look like she has a double eyebrow. Some of the shadows are also askew. (Answer: the video on the right is fake.)
TikTok’s Unreal Keanu Reeves
Even a deepfake parody account has fans! TikTok’s Unreal Keanu Reeves has around 9m followers and its likeness to the real Keanu Reeves is a bit unsettling. The John Wick doppelganger invites us into his home where he dances, cracks jokes, makes references to his famous movie roles and shares his dating tricks. “This dude looks more like Keanu than Keanu does now,” one user joked.
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When Morgan Freeman suggested we question reality, his cunning deepfake video set Twitter’s nerves on edge - mainly because Freeman didn’t actually appear in the video.
Deepfakes - digitally altered video and audio - have been around since about 2017 and they’ve come a very long way.
From a faux Keanu Reeves to Steve Buscemi as Jennifer Lawrence, we compiled 15 unnerving celeb deepfakes to introduce you to the era of synthetic reality with a few tips about how to detect forgeries.
Much like Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible stunts, deeptomecruise deepfakes have a shock-and-awe impact. Can you spot the ‘tells’ that indicate actor Miles Fisher is really behind the pratfalls and stunts? Fisher nailed Cruise’s wildly entertaining laugh and expressions - so much so that even Fisher did a double take: “I’ll never forget the moment I first saw one of my videos deepfaked with my face replaced by Cruise’s. The lighting wasn’t uniform and there was a minor glitch behind the eyes, but the effect was still astonishing.” If you look closely, you’ll see moments where Fisher’s eyes and mouth glitch for a second, but you’ll need to stay sharp.
The Morgan Freeman Deepfake owned the Internet in 2022. Dubbed ‘the most realistic deepfake ever’, the uncanny resemblance to Freeman is terrifying and mesmerizing. The voice is that of Dutch voice actor Boet Schouwink. Watch closely as Fairchild says what you are seeing 'is not real' and announces the era of 'synthetic reality'. One Twitter user insists he’s discovered the nuance that proves this is a deepfake: "His facial expressions are not those of the real Morgan Freeman." Hmmmm. We’re not so sure…
Elizabeth Olsen vs Scarlett Johansson Deepfake
Who is real and which actress is a deepfake in this Scarlett Johansson vs Elizabeth Olsen challenge? Some Twitter viewers couldn’t decide which of the side-by-side videos were AI-generated. Hint: have a look at the area where the bangs fall on Scarlett’s face, making it look like she has a double eyebrow. Some of the shadows are also askew. (Answer: the video on the right is fake.)
TikTok’s Unreal Keanu Reeves
Even a deepfake parody account has fans! TikTok’s Unreal Keanu Reeves has around 9m followers and its likeness to the real Keanu Reeves is a bit unsettling. The John Wick doppelganger invites us into his home where he dances, cracks jokes, makes references to his famous movie roles and shares his dating tricks. “This dude looks more like Keanu than Keanu does now,” one user joked.
“Waddya want me to do about it?” Jack Torrance asks his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) in Jim Carrey’s deepfake of The Shining. The viral video racked up 3m views - a tribute to Carrey who skilfully channels Torrance’s manic rage - a brilliant tribute to Jack Nicholson. Deepfake expert ‘Ctrl Shift Face’ used an open-source tool called DeepFaceLab to create the vid, superimposing Carrey’s face onto Nicholson's character in Stanley Kubrick's iconic 1980 movie. There’s no attempt to disguise that this is a fake - making it even more compelling and creepy.
Jimmy Fallon interviews…. er, Jimmy Fallon?
Jimmy Fallon and Paul Rudd
When Jimmy Fallon interviewed Paul Rudd the Internet did a double take. Sure, the two men look similar but was Fallon interviewing his twin? Often, when one face replaces another, viewers might see two sets of eyebrows or a double chin but the Fallon/Rudd combo appears flawless. Rudd nails the deepfake by imitating Fallon’s expressions. Applause all around!
Fake Nicki Minaj and Tom Holland
Neighbor Wars
Trust the British to mine for comedy gold in a deepfake television show Deep Fake Neighbor Wars.Tom Holland has a cameo with Nicki Minaj, as does a fake Kim Kardashian. Nothing is as it seems. The AI-generated images have been refined more than a million times to the point where even the pores are visible. Some of the team behind the show are linked to the Mark Zuckerberg deepfake that blew up the Internet (see below) but nobody is taking themselves too seriously. Keep an eye out for Mark Wahlberg’s double, along with ‘Greta Thunberg’.
When Amy Adams belted out Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive she likely didn’t imagine her solo tune turning into a duet but deepfake video artists had other devious plans. Enter Nicolas Cage, living meme. Cage also took the place of Amy Adams as Lois Lane inBatman v Supermanand the results were superheroic.
Nicolas Cage as… everyone
A new web tool made headlines in 2018 for inserting Nicolas Cage in all of our favorite movies from Star Wars to Star Trek and Captain America. He also replaces Harrison Ford in Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Sean Connery in Dr. No, and the T-1000 robot in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.It seems even Nicolas Cage’s face has a shelf life, however. Deepfakers gave up on Cage a few years back, as a user named ‘derpfake’ noted: “He’s had a good run and hopefully made some people take an interest in this sub and the tech behind it, but it is time to move on.”
It seems you’re nobody until you’ve been deepfaked. Ryan Gosling took over from Nic Cage in the Spirit of Vengeance's 2007 movie and fans loved the results. A YouTuber named stryder HD placed Gosling's face on Cage's body and used ‘Voice A.I.’ to alter Gosling's tone in a scene with Roxanne Simpson (Eva Mendes). stryder HD wanted to show what Gosling playing Johnny Blaze in the MCU would be like. Now we can’t wait for the real thing.
When Mark Zuckerberg’s deepfake appeared on Instagram, Facebook/Meta was forced to examine the company's fact-checking policy. Was it defamation? Was it a parody? Eventually, the platform decided to keep it online. A spokesperson told The Verge. “If third-party fact-checkers mark it as false, we will filter it from Instagram’s recommendation surfaces like Explore and hashtag pages.” The deepfake was created using 2017 footage of Zuckerberg and AI tech to manipulate Zuckerberg’s face and an actor’s voice. The ‘tell’ is in what Zuckerberg is saying - bragging about controlling content: "One man, with total control of billions of people's stolen data - all their secrets, their lives, their futures. I owe it all to SPECTRE."
Jerry Seinfeld in one of the most famous scenes in Pulp Fiction
Jerry Seinfeld in Pulp Fiction
DesiFakes inserted Jerry Seinfeld’s face into one of the most notorious scenes from Pulp Fiction but it’s the audio editing that makes it so memorable. There are moments in the Pulp Fiction remake when the editing can be noticed, but overall it is a seamless effort with Seinfeld’s laugh track, music, and closing credits. Too bad Kramer doesn’t make an appearance. It’s not Seinfeld’s only AI outing either. This video shows a Seinfeld stand-up comedy entirely written and performed by AI - which is unnerving when you stop to think about it.
Spider-man: No Way Home starring… Tobey Maguire
Tobey Maguire first portrayed Peter Parker/Spider-Man on the big screen and returns in the deepfake trailerfor No Way Home (2021), replacing Tom Holland as the lead. The jawline is a great match - so much so, deepfaker Shamrock reportedly earned a job at LucasFilm’s Industrial Light and Magic visual effects division. Maguire’s head appears atop a disproportionately small body at times, but the deepfake gets an overall 4.5-star rating. Shamrock also inserted Maguire into The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), swapping Andrew Garfield with incredible results.
Celeb deepfakes are appearing in advertising now, leading to questions about legal and ethical rights to celebrity images. Elon Musk’s deepfake promotes a real estate company - without his consent - although not very convincingly. Hackers have also hijacked Musk’s image to promote cryptocurrency, illustrating the lawless nature of deepfakes. Musk has not commented on the viral video although he called out YouTubefor “non-stop scam ads”.
Jennifer Lawrence at the Golden Globe awards in 2016 with doppelganger Steve Buscemi
Jennifer Lawrence and Steve Buscemi
Even Steve Buscemi Is scratching his head over the viral deepfake of his face on Jennifer Lawrence’s body - although he likes what he sees, “I’ve never looked better,” Buscemi told Late Show host Stephen Colbert. When it was released in 2019 Buscemi’s deepfake represented a new front in digital warfare. Now, deepfakes are as common as fake diamonds.
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