Tom Cruise has gone viral on the popular TikTok video sharing app, but clips starring ‘Mission Impossible’ are fakes that experts call the “most alarming examples in life” of technology.
Last week an account appeared on the app, called “deeptomcruise,” which shows several videos showing Cruise doing a magic trick, playing golf and remembering the time he met the former president of the Soviet Union.
The series of clips has been viewed more than 11 million times on TikTok as of Tuesday, with many millions more on other social media platforms.
While the clips are entertaining, experts warn that this content “should worry us.”
Sam Gregory, director of the witness.org program, shared his concerns about Tom Cruise’s deepfakes through Twitter: “Women are already the target of deepfakes.”
“Seeing no longer believes” rhetoric undermines real video “.
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An account appeared in the app last week, called “deeptomcruise,” which shows several videos that have been viewed more than 11 million times. Pictures is one of the “cruises” that does a magic trick
A video shared on the account shows Deepfake Cruise wearing a festive Hawaiian shirt while kneeling in front of the camera.
It shows a coin and in one case makes it disappear, like magic.
“I want to show you some magic,” the imposter says, holding the coin.
The series of clips has been viewed more than 11 million times on TikTok as of Tuesday, with many millions more on other social media platforms. In the picture, Cruise plays golf in a video
“It’s the real thing, I mean it’s real,” says “Cruise,” waving his hand across his face as if to hint at the idea that he’s not really the popular star.
Deepfakes was invented in 2014 by Ian Goodfellow, who was the director of machine learning for Apple’s Special Projects Group and a leader in the field.
The word comes from the collaboration of the terms “deep learning” and “false” and is a form of artificial intelligence.
The system studies a target person in pictures and videos, allowing them to capture various angles and mimic their behavior and speech patterns.
The technology caught attention during election season, as many feared that developers would use it to undermine the reputation of political candidates.
As for now, Tom Cruise’s deepfakes seem to be entertaining.
Another video shared on TikTok’s account shows the impersonation of a golf course.
“What’s up TikTok, guys doing sports?” The star says before grabbing a club and going out to play.
He runs back to the camera, takes off his sunglasses and says, “Listen to sports and TikTok fans, if you like what you’re seeing, just wait for what’s to come.”
The other clip shows Cruise walking through a clothing store where he breaks, turns and jumps to his feet to tell the TikTok world a joke about the moment he met former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.
Tom Cruise deepfakes may make the world laugh, but technology scares experts.
The other clip shows Cruise walking through a clothing store where she breaks down. The deepfake was able to capture the behavior and personality of the real star. While the clips are entertaining, experts warn that this content “should concern us” because this technology can easily manipulate the audience.
Leading expert Henry Ajder told the Times of London: “This technology will not go away, there are also a lot of really negative and malicious use cases.”
But other experts praise the play, as the fake cruise reflects the speech, manners, and appearance of the actual celebrity.
Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley who specializes in digital image analysis, told Fortune that while he knew the clips were fakes, they are still “incredibly made.”
Farid may be alone with that opinion, as Rachel Tobac, general manager of online security company SocialProof, tweeted that the videos showed that we have reached an almost “undetectable” stage of Deepfakes.
“Deepfakes will affect public confidence, provide coverage and a plausible denial for criminals / abusers captured on video or audio, and will be used (and used) to manipulate, humiliate, and harm people,” he said, adding that they had “real-world security, political impact, etc. for everyone,” he tweeted.
Regardless of what experts and the public think about Cruise imposters, TikTok has rules against impersonation.
“You cannot: […] impersonate any person or entity, or falsely declare or otherwise falsify your affiliation with any person or entity, including the impression that any content you post, post, transmit, distribute or make available from the Services, “application policy reads.