Tag Archive for: deepfakes

MIND BLOWING DEEPFAKES!

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First of all this video is INCREDIBLE! While Deepfakes may be used negatively. We have recently seen online a fantastic use of DeepFakes!

Even if it is a little freaky, this DeepFake can be shown how it can be used for good….I guess?

It comes from the YouTube channel Jim Meskimen an impressionist and YouTuber. He wrote a poem and performed it in different voices. The twist?

In each different voice, the persons face was superimposed in incredible detail to his own face. While, his impressions are very very believable so if they were cut up into short clips. As outside of this piece, you could be forgiven to be thinking that they were said by the actors themselves! Jim’s impressions are very very good! Consequently, coupled with DeepFake technology this could revolutionise the impressionist community!

So who did he impersonate? Check out below are the actors that Jim impersonated:

  • John Malkovich
  • Colin Firth
  •  Robert Deniro
  • Tommy Lee Jones
  •  Nick Offerman
  •  George Clooney
  • Christopher Walken
  • Anthony Hopkins
  • Dr. Phil
  • Nicholas Cage
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger
  • Morgan Freeman
  • Bryan Cranston
  • Christoph Waltz
  • Joe Pesci
  • Jack Nicholson
  • George W. Bush
  • Ian McKellen
  • Ron Howard
  •  Robin Williams

Question Time

So, we throw the question out to you. Does this version of DeepFake technology show how it can be used for good? However, does it also show that it could be used negatively? Where can DeepFake technology be used? While, can it ever be used for good? Furthermore is DeepFake technology just something that should never be used, will it always be used negatively?

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Episode 335 with Julia Hardy

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Deepfake Dancing

Deepfake Dancing – Drop A Beat!

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A few months ago there was the scandal revolving around Deepfakes. The tech that is a more intelligent version of faceswapping, was used to insert celebs into naughty videos. The latest way that this artificial intelligence tech is being used? Dancing. Deepfakes dancing is here and you can be the best dance in your town! (In video form at least) It uses AI to read someone elses dance moves and then copies them on to your body.

The tech is developeed by 4 researchers at UC Berkley. They wrote in a paper posted on arXiV that their system is made up of a number of steps. Firstly a video of the want to be dancer is recorded, a separate programme then analyses the moves and compiles them into a stick figure. The want to be dancer is recorded for around 20mins for the quality of transfer to be useable. Then a source video is found and a stick figure made of their movements too!  Then the swap happens. The stick figure (non dancing one) is attached to the movements of the dancing stick figure. Boom. You are now a dancer. A capabale one too.

Deepfake Dancing

Deepfake Dancing

 

Limitations

The programme is working very hard to smooth the movement of the stick figures. The reason behind this is so that upon completion the dancers don’t jerk around too much. Plus there programme is also retracing the non professional dancers face to ensure realism.

However, for the Deepfake Dancing programme to work effectively, loose clothing cannot be worn, they have to wear tight fighting clothing. As The Verge are reporting, in the video above, there is some visual artefacts. Joints of the target and source dancer don’t 100% match up. The software seems to not be able to keep up with small complex movements either for example a hand flipping from back to front.

(The Verge)

Despite all this Deepfake Dancing sounds super cool. But like most tech it could be used in a negative way! It will be interesting to see how this tech plays out and how it will be used by all in the future!

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