Tom Cruise went viral on the popular video-sharing app TikTok, but the clips starring ‘Mission Impossible’ are deep fakes that experts are calling the technology’s ‘most alarming realistic examples’.
An account appeared on the app last week, dubbed ‘deeptomcruise’, which shows a series of videos showing Cruise doing a magic trick, playing golf and reminiscing about the time he met the former president of the Soviet Union.
The clip series has been viewed more than 11 million times on TikTok as of Tuesday, with many millions more on other social media platforms.
Although the clips are for entertainment, experts warn that this type of content ‘should concern us’.
Sam Gregory, a program director at witnesso.org, shared his concerns about Tom Cruise deepfakes via Twitter: ‘Women are already being targeted by deepfakes.’
‘Seeing is no longer believing’ rhetoric undermines real video. ‘
Scroll down to see the videos
An account appeared on the app last week, dubbed ‘deeptomcruise’, which shows a series of videos that have been viewed more than 11 million times. Photos is one of ‘Cruise’ doing a magic trick
A video shared with the account shows fake Cruise wearing a festive Hawaiian shirt while kneeling in front of the camera.
He shows a coin and in one instance makes it disappear – like magic.
“I want to show you some magic,” says the imposter, holding the coin.
The clip series has been viewed more than 11 million times on TikTok as of Tuesday, with many millions more on other social media platforms. In the photo, Cruise is playing golf in a video
‘It’s the real thing, I mean, it’s all real’, ‘Cruise’ says waving his hand over his face as if to suggest the notion that he is not really the popular star.
Deepfakes were invented in 2014 by Ian Goodfellow, who was the machine learning director at Apple’s Special Projects Group and a leader in the field.
The word derives from the collaboration of the terms ‘deep learning’ and ‘false’ and is a form of artificial intelligence.
The system studies a target person in photos and videos, allowing them to capture various angles and mimic their behavior and speech patterns.
The technology gained attention during the election season, as many developers feared it would be used to undermine the reputation of political candidates.
For now, Tom Cruise’s deepfakes appear to be for entertainment purposes.
Another video shared with the TikTok account shows the impersonator on a golf course.
‘So, TikTok, you are cool if I play any sport’, the ‘star’ says before taking a club and going out to play.
He runs back to the camera, takes off his sunglasses and says, ‘Hey, listen to sports fans and TikTok, if you like what you’re seeing, wait until what’s next.’
The other clip shows Cruise walking through a clothing store where he stumbles, rolls and bounces back to tell the world TikTok a joke about the time he met former Soviet Union president Mikhail Gorbachev.
Tom Cruise’s deepfakes may be laughing at the world, but the technology is scaring the experts.
The other clip shows Cruise walking through a clothing store wherever he goes. Deepfake was able to capture the mannerisms and personality of the real star. Although the clips are for entertainment, experts warn that such content ‘should concern us’ because such technology can easily manipulate the audience
Lead expert Henry Ajder told the Times of London: ‘This technology is not disappearing, there are also a lot of really negative and malicious use cases.’
But other experts praise the work, as the fake Cruise mirrors the speech, mannerisms and appearance of the real 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 fake, they were still “incredibly made”.
Farid may be alone with that opinion, as Rachel Tobac, CEO of online security company SocialProof, tweeted that the videos proved that we have reached an almost ‘undetectable Deepfakes’ stage.
“Deepfakes will affect public trust, provide plausible denial and coverage for criminals / abusers captured on video or audio, and will (and are) used to manipulate, humiliate and injure people,” she said, adding that they had “security in the real world, political impact, etc. for everyone, ”she tweeted.
Regardless of what experts and the public think about the Cruise impostor, TikTok has rules against impersonation.
‘Maybe you don’t: […] impersonate any person or entity, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent you or your affiliation with any person or entity, including giving the impression that any content you upload, post, transmit, distribute or otherwise make available comes from the Services, ‘the application policy reads.