Celebrity AI videos don’t just frighten Hollywood celebs. As AI tech becomes more sophisticated, AI deepfakes become more common, enabling the spread of misinformation and privacy violations.
AI video generation isn't inherently unethical, but as deepfakes spread through social media, it’s important to understand how to detect AI videos vs. real ones. Read on to learn more about some of the most popular celebrity AI videos and how to detect them.
What are Celebrity AI Videos?
Celebrity AI videos are deepfake videos that use the images and voices of celebrities without consent. These videos utilize AI technology to replicate celebrities’ likenesses and create videos of these superstars saying or doing things that they did not actually say or do. Natural language processing, machine learning, and neural networks enable highly accurate deepfakes that are trained on the many available images of certain celebrities.
Some scammers have picked up on the benefits of celebrity AI videos, creating fake advertisements with seeming endorsements from famous stars. Some companies use AI to create celebrity impersonations and parody videos.
Are Celebrity AI Videos Ethical?
Although some question whether the law can currently prevent AI from duplicating actors, deepfakes - specifically, deepfakes of celebrities and other unconsenting people - are not ethical. The ethics of deepfakes, especially for celebrities, can be murky, but what is clear is that deepfakes created without consent violate fundamental moral ethics.
Deepfakes and American elections already have an unfortunate history together. In the 2023 elections, for example, AI technology was used to clone the voice of a Chicago mayoral candidate, making it sound like the candidate condoned police violence. Since many people aren’t trained in how to quickly spot a deepfake, these video and sound clips have the ability to spread rampant misinformation. Even if deepfakes are of celebrities rather than politicians, celebrities have clear influence over their followers, so celebrity AI videos can easily add to the spread of misinformation.
The problems don’t stop there. Deepfakes could potentially be used as evidence in legal cases, potentially leading to more wrongful convictions or acquittals. Deepfakes of celebrities advertising products could also lead to financial fraud, such as when unsuspecting fans are scammed into purchases that enable companies to steal their information.
This might make you wonder about the ethics of using AI video generators at all. But don’t worry! Conscientious companies like Tavus API only allow for the creation of ethical deepfakes.
What does it mean to create only ethical deepfakes? With Tavus, users who do not want to use a stock avatar can only generate a custom avatar based on their own likeness. This way, Tavus ensures every digital twin and every video has been made with consent. No one can use your likeness without your approval, and users cannot create deepfakes of unconsenting people like celebrities.
Top Celebrity AI Videos
You may have seen some celebrity AI videos already, including some of those on this list. We’ll talk about some of the most popular celebrity AI videos so you can watch out for deepfakes.
Lil Yachty AI Video
In 2022, videos of Lil Yachty’s 2021 walkout - his appearance to fans onstage - became popular as fans expressed their admiration. In 2023, the video spread even further as sports fans started replacing Yachty’s image with their favorite players. AI videos placed various sports players, Olympian athletes, and others into the original walkout video, but the new stars of this video used the same dance moves as Lil Yachty. Since the start of this meme trend, many “how to” videos and posts have proliferated on social media.
Kate Middleton AI
The supposedly AI-generated video of Kate Middleton was just a rumor, but those rumors reveal just how much AI deepfakes have caused people to question their own eyes.
The suspicion started when people noticed that a photo posted by the Princess of Wales during her mysterious absence looked as if someone had tampered with it. It was likely just a bad photoshop job, but people became more and more suspicious, leading to questions about the validity of the video the royal family finally released to announce her illness.
There are some who believe the video is an AI deepfake, demonstrating just how insidious deepfakes are, even when videos aren’t actually deepfakes. Some experts believe AI deepfakes are eroding our “sense of shared reality.”
Taylor Swift AI
Even when AI images or videos start as a joke, the speed of social media sharing can mean people lose track of the photo’s origins. Although images of Swifties in Donald Trump shirts and of Swift herself in an Uncle Sam World War II-type endorsement of Trump were supposedly first created and labeled as satire, they quickly turned into something else.
On Twitter, former President Donald Trump wrote, “I accept,” falsely implying Swift’s endorsement and attempting to benefit from her massive fanbase.
Donald Trump AI
Former President Donald Trump is both the subject of AI deepfakes and a recent perpetuator of them. The images here were created around the time of his trial, depicting him fighting against law enforcement, despite nothing of the sort happening.
Trump has also attempted to use AI deepfakes to his advantage, whether by accepting a false endorsement of him by Taylor Swift or by posting a video of Vice President Kamala Harris holding a communist military rally.
Nicki Minaj AI Video
When Nicki Minaj announced her Pink Friday 2 album, fans took to AI image generators to create images and videos of “Gag City,” inspired by Minaj’s comment about the album. Some companies, like Dunkin’ Donuts, joined in the fun with their own Gag City counterparts.
Minaj has also been the victim of deepfakes, when both she and Tom Holland were depicted in a spoof reality TV show. The video showed them in disputes with neighbors, and Minaj responded angrily, calling for the video to be taken down.
Morgan Freeman AI
Recently a TikTok user claimed to be Morgan Freeman’s niece, using AI voice cloning to depict Freeman narrating her own day. While some fans immediately deemed the audio a deepfake, it fooled others, demonstrating how convincing AI deepfakes can be. Freeman made a statement explaining that the voice was AI-generated.
Snoop Dogg AI
Meta recently released 28 AI characters with whom users can chat through their messaging app. Users can chat with these characters and ask them questions, and the characters’ images will animate based on the conversation. Users can even ask characters like Snoop Dogg for advice.
Obama AI Voice
In 2023, audio sounding like former President Barack Obama surfaced. In the clip, AI Obama defends against allegations related to the sudden death of his former chef. The audio was posted by several TikTok accounts associated with promoting false information. These accounts also posted videos or audio about various celebrity rumors.
How to Spot a Celebrity AI Deepfake Video
With the social media-fueled spread of misinformation, spotting deepfakes has become a necessity. But as AI technology improves, it can be harder to determine when something is AI-generated.
Oftentimes, low-quality deepfakes are easier to spot. You may notice bad lip syncing, patchy skin tones, or flickers around the edges of faces. Fine details are often more difficult for deepfake technology, so keep an eye out for badly rendered hair, jewelry, teeth, and lighting.
Researchers are working on discovering ways to spot more sophisticated AI deepfakes. The Deepfake Detection Challenge is one such initiative.
Other strategies for combating the dangers of deepfakes include:
- Remain skeptical until you determine the source of new information.
- Search keywords related to the video, image, or audio to see if any reputable sources have mentioned it.
- Slow down the video to see if you spot any glitches or something off about mouth movements.
More About Celebrity AI Videos
Interested in learning more about celebrity AI videos? We’ve got answers to your questions.
What is an AI celebrity?
An AI celebrity is an AI-generated replica of a real-life celebrity. These digital replicas imitate the face, voice, and mannerisms of celebrities. Sometimes they are meant to create satirical pieces, but some use these likenesses for malicious intent.
Can AI make a video of a celebrity?
Yes, AI technology can create a video of a celebrity. The caveat, however, is that these videos are not actually videos of the celebrities themselves. They are instead videos of celebrities’ digital twins, used to generate any content the creator wishes, even if that content is misleading and used to spread misinformation.
Is there an AI that can make videos for me?
Yes there is! Tavus API is one of the top AI video generator APIs. With their dedication to security and privacy, your users never have to worry about the risk of deepfakes using their own likeness. Users can only make videos of their own likeness or videos using stock avatars, so Tavus can’t be used to generate unauthorized celebrity AI videos.
Explore Ethical AI Video Generation with Tavus API
Despite the ethics violations of unauthorized celebrity AI videos, ethical AI video generation is still possible. AI video technology makes it possible for conscientious users to create training, marketing, and educational videos at scale, enabling organizational growth at a reasonable price.
With Tavus’ Phoenix model, your users can create videos with highly realistic image and voice cloning. And with Tavus’s lip sync and dubbing API and AI translation into 30 languages, users can broaden their reach globally without losing video quality. All they need to do is upload a video sample, provide a script and personalization variables, and let Tavus handle the rest!
Leverage the power of ethical AI videos in your technology with Tavus!
