Imagine, seeing a video of yourself singing on a big screen without it actually being you that is singing, but someone else with the appearance of you. This is what happened to Simon Cowell on America’s Got Talent when the leading AI company Metaphysic transformed a singer into Cowell. Probably, just like Cowell, you would be stunned and shocked. How can this happen?
Metaphysic is a leader in creating hyperreal synthetic videos
The answer is: synthetic media or also called AI-generated media. It is a fast-growing field of digital experiences and products that are created with input from artificial intelligence (Marr, 2022). Through training an AI model based on real images and videos, a modified and created video is made. Such deep fake videos or photos are hard to distinguish from reality – if they even are – which is also the scary side of this new technology trend.
Generative adversarial network (GAN) is a technique in which two networks compete to create photos that are cross-checked to determine if they are realistic or not (Suliman, 2022)
Whilst such a video for AGT is unharmful and for entertainment purposes only, deep fake videos can cause serious trouble when misused and increases the amount of disinformation. Foremost, the AI technique to create such videos can be used to create fake videos as well. For instance, speeches of important politicians can be re-created to persuade the public about a particular issue of their liking, which I think, can cause serious harm to the stability of society. However, does it only bring harm?
Chris and Tom, founders of Metaphysic, see metaverse AI as a new opportunity. Combined with the metaverse – a virtual reality in which users communicate and interact with each other in 3D – they think the technology paves a way to have “live” drinks with friends on the opposite side of the world, or even in the future, revisit a memory.
In my opinion, synthetic media can be a great new technology in the entertainment industry, however, ethical considerations should be in place. What you do not want, and what people might fear, is that actors with the wrong intentions use data without consent, permission or direct interaction. Therefore, it will be interesting to see what the future brings and how these ethical concerns can be secured or even impose laws. About the metaverse? I am keen on seeing how this development plays out as for now, I cannot imagine a world where virtual 3D live interaction is something usual.
For now, let’s see how far synthetic media can go in America’s Got Talent.
References
Marr, B. (2022). Can A Metaverse AI Win America’s Got Talent? (And What That Means For The Industry). Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2022/08/30/can-a-metaverse-ai-win-americas-got-talent-and-what-that-means-for-the-industry/?sh=766487777b20
Suliman, M. (2022). Synthetic media: How AI-generated characters spread disinformation. Big Think. https://bigthink.com/the-present/synthetic-media-deepfake/
