These Deepfake Celebrity Impressions Are Amazingly Wonderful And Freaky To Watch
The impressionist in this video is Jim Meskimen, and the video is titled "Pity the Poor Impressionist." In the video, he voices 20 different celebrities, some more convincingly than others. He does an excellent Tommy Lee Jones and Robert De Niro as well. The visuals for the deepfake video are by SHAM00K.
The impersonations that Meskimen performs include John Malkovich, Colin Firth, Robert De Niro, Tommy Lee Jones, Nick Offerman, George Clooney, Christopher Walken, Anthony Hopkins, Dr. Phil, Nicholas Cage, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Morgan Freeman, Bryan Cranston, Christoph Waltz, Joe Pesci, Jack Nicholson, George W. Bush, Ian McKellen, Ron Howard and Robin Williams. The deepfake software overlays the actor's face with their voice as the impersonation is performed. Many are concerned about deepfakes and their potential to create fake news and other more sinister character attacks that people might fall for.
Some fear that the technology could have an impact on presidential elections. Last month Google released a large catalog of its deepfakes intended to help develop tools to identify AI-modified video, audio or imagery in the future. Some researchers have said that perfectly real deepfake videos could be only six months away. With the potential to sway elections and embarrass celebrities, politicians, and others, researchers into ways to determine if videos are real or fake. There is real concern about the use of deepfakes in the lead up to the presidential election in 2020. Deepfake tech can also be used to shame and humiliate average people, with apps like the now-defunct DeepNude that allowed the creation of computer-generated porn with any face the user of the app wanted to use.
