There have been many warnings, including by President Joe Biden, about how generative AI can be used to manipulate audio and video to create deepfakes that show people — politicians, among them — saying or doing things they didn’t actually say or do.
If you’re among those who think, ‘Phooey, those concerns are just overblown,’ then consider three recent deepfakes involving musician Taylor Swift, X owner Elon Musk and Biden.
Swifties will know that she’s a fan of Le Creuset cookware. “Her collection of the cookware has been featured on a Tumblr account dedicated to the pop star’s home décor, showcased in her gift choices at a fan’s bridal shower and shown in a Netflix documentary that was highlighted by Le Creuset’s Facebook page,” reported The New York Times.
But her love of colorful enameled cookware didn’t prompt her to pitch the pricey pots and such in ads, which showed up on Facebook and Tiktok. The ads, using her voice and face, were created by AI and had Swift supposedly telling her fans that she was “thrilled” to offer free cookware sets to those who answered a few questions before trying to reel them in with the true scam.
Noted The NYT, “The ads sent viewers to websites that mimicked legitimate outlets like the Food Network, which showcased fake news coverage of the Le Creuset offer alongside testimonials from fabricated customers. Participants were asked to pay a ‘small shipping fee of $9.96’ for the cookware. Those who complied faced hidden monthly charges without ever receiving the promised cookware.”
In the case of Musk, a fake version of the billionaire entrepreneur was shown promoting a phony stock trading scheme, called Quantum AI, on Facebook to Australians interested in getting “rich quick.” The deepfake Musk is shown on video saying, “The latest platform, Quantum AI, will help people get rich quick, not work for every penny” and calling out other billionaires — Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates — as “prominent shareholder before the…
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