At the TED2023: Possibility event in Vancouver, Canada, Metaphysic CEO Tom Graham and TED show host Chris Anderson gave an insightful TED Talk today about the rise of deepfake technology. Deepfakes are artificial intelligence- based synthetic media used to create incredibly realistic videos, sometimes with the faces and even voices of people, even if they have never actually said or done something before. Graham showcased Metaphysic’s deepfake technology in use during the talk, stunning the audience.
Through his demonstration and discussion with Anderson, Graham drove home the point that this technology is advancing quickly and it’s going to be harder and harder to tell what’s real or not. Anderson noted the many potential harms of this tech, such as fake photographs of political figures or pornography using real people’s faces, to which Graham replied that it’s time to bring the ethics of this kind of scaling of hyperreal photorealistic content to life for everyday individuals.
Deepfake technology has been popularized by Metaphysic’s @DeepTomCruise channel and their incredible performances on TikTok and Instagram. The company specializes in creating artificially generated, hyperrealistic content and they do this by taking real-world data and training neural nets. Graham showed a video of a fake Aloe Blacc singing Wake Me Up When It’s All Over by Avicii, and the video had him singing in multiple languages that he never actually sang the song in.
Graham also mentioned real-time processing as the cutting edge of newly possible technology. He then put Anderson’s pre-processed face on the body of Sunny Bates, a serial entrepreneur, who consented to the demonstration. Anderson recognized the potential difficulty in trusting certain videos and phone calls in the future and he asked what people can do to prepare themselves as this wave of tech goes on.
This is where the idea of copyrighting one’s AI likeness came up, as Graham had done with his own. Property rights that protect people’s appearances are going to be more and more important as this wave continues, and Bruce said, “Creating such property rights will be important.”
About Metaphysic: Metaphysic is an AI-driven media company committed to creating deepfakes and hyperrealistic content for use in entertainment, out-of-school learning, and marketing. They specialize in cutting-edge technology that enables them to capture and reproduce incredibly lifelike imagery.
About Tom Graham: Tom Graham is the CEO of Metaphysic, a firm specializing in hyperrealistic imagery and deepfakes. He has been a driving force behind the mass popularization of synthetic media, and his company has been widely recognized and praised for their amazing performances on TikTok, Instagram, and other social media platforms. With his experience and deep knowledge on synthetic media, Graham has frequently been a speaker at events like TED to share his insights and to advocate for the ethical implications of this technology.
