When a series of spookily convincing Tom Cruise deepfakes went viral on TikTok, some suggested it was a chilling sign of things to come — harbinger of an era where AI will let anyone make fake videos of anyone else. The video’s creator, though, Belgium VFX specialist Chris Ume, says this is far from the case. Speaking to The Verge about his viral clips, Ume stresses the amount of time and effort that went into making each deepfake, as well as the importance of working with a top-flight Tom Cruise impersonator, Miles Fisher.
“You can’t do it by just pressing a button,” says Ume. “That’s important, that’s a message I want to tell people.” Each clip took weeks of work, he says, using the open-source DeepFaceLab algorithm as well as established video editing tools. “By combining traditional CGI and VFX with deepfakes, it makes it better. I make sure you don’t see any of the glitches.”
Ume has been working with deepfakes for years, including creating the effects for the “Sassy Justice” series made by South Park’s Trey Parker and Matt Stone. He started working on Cruise when he saw a video by Fisher announcing a fictitious run for president by the Hollywood star. The pair then worked together on a follow-up and decided to put a series of “harmless” clips up on TikTok. Their account, @deeptomcruise, quickly racked up tens of thousands of followers and likes. Ume pulled the videos briefly but then restored them.
“It’s fulfilled its purpose,” he says of the account. “We had fun. I created awareness. I showed my skills. We made people smile. And that’s it, the project is done.” A spokesperson from TikTok told The Verge that the account was well within its rules for parody uses of deepfakes, and Ume notes that Cruise — the real Tom Cruise — has since made his own official account, perhaps as a result of seeing his AI doppelgänger go viral.
Deepfake technology has been developing for years now, and there’s no doubt that the results are getting more realistic and easier to make. Although there has been much speculation about the potential harm such technology could cause in politics, so far these effects have been relatively nonexistent. Where the technology is definitely causing damage is in the creation of revenge p*rn or nonconsensual p*rnography of women. In those cases, the fake videos or images don’t have to be realistic to create tremendous damage. Simply threatening someone with the release of fake imagery, or creating rumors about the existence of such content, can be enough to ruin reputations and careers.
The Tom Cruise fakes, though, show a much more beneficial use of the technology: as another part of the CGI toolkit. Ume says there are so many uses for deepfakes, from dubbing actors in film and TV, to restoring old footage, to animating CGI characters. What he stresses, though, is the incompleteness of the technology operating by itself.
Creating the fakes took two months to train the base AI models (using a pair of NVIDIA RTX 8000 GPUs) on footage of Cruise, and days of further processing for each clip. After that, Ume had to go through each video, frame by frame, making small adjustments to sell the overall effect; smoothing a line here and covering up a glitch there. “The most difficult thing is making it look alive,” he says. “You can see it in the eyes when it’s not right.”
Ume says a huge amount of credit goes to Fisher; a TV and film actor who captured the exaggerated mannerisms of Cruise, from his manic laugh to his intense delivery. “He’s a really talented actor,” says Ume. “I just do the visual stuff.” Even then, if you look closely, you can still see moments where the illusion fails,as in the clip below where Fisher’s eyes and mouth glitch for a second as he puts the sunglasses on.
Although Ume’s point is that his deepfakes take a lot of work and a professional impersonator, it’s also clear that the technology will improve over time. Exactly how easy it will be to make seamless fakes in the future is difficult to predict, and experts are busy developing tools that can automatically identify fakes or verify unedited footage.
Ume, though, says he isn’t too worried about the future. We’ve developed such technology before and society’s conception of truth has more or less survived. “It’s like Photoshop 20 years ago, people didn’t know what photo editing was, and now they know about these fakes,” he says. As deepfakes become more and more of a staple in TV and movies, people’s expectations will change, as they did for imagery in the age of Photoshop. One thing’s for certain, says Ume, and it’s that the genie can’t be put back in the bottle. “Deepfakes are here to stay,” he says. “Everyone believes in it.”
Update March 5th, 12:11PM ET: Updated to note that Ume and Fisher has now restored the videos to the @deeptomcruise TikTok account.
FAQs
Ume, though, says he isn't too worried about the future. We've developed such technology before and society's conception of truth has more or less survived. “It's like Photoshop 20 years ago, people didn't know what photo editing was, and now they know about these fakes,” he says.
Should I be worried about deepfakes? ›
Not only has this technology created confusion, skepticism, and the spread of misinformation, deepfakes also pose a threat to privacy and security. With the ability to convincingly impersonate anyone, cybercriminals can orchestrate phishing scams or identity theft operations with alarming precision.
Are deepfakes really a security threat? ›
Even scarier are the AI-generated deepfakes that can mimic a person's voice, face and gestures. New cyber attack tools can deliver disinformation and fraudulent messages at a scale and sophistication not seen before. Simply put, AI-generated fraud is harder than ever to detect and stop.
Can you sue for deepfakes? ›
Georgia, Hawaii, Texas and Virginia have laws on the books that criminalize nonconsensual deepfake p*rn. California and Illinois have given victims the right to sue those who create images using their likenesses. Minnesota and New York do both. Minnesota's law also targets using deepfakes in politics.
What celebrities are victims of Deepfakes? ›
From Taylor Swift and Maisie Williams to Gal Gadot and Emma Watson, numerous female celebrities had their likenesses utilised and manipulated for sexually explicit deepfakes, much of which remains unregulated on the internet.
What is a deep fake interview? ›
AI | Digital Identity | Deepfake Detection |…
In these fraudulent interviews, the video's lip movements and actions may not always align perfectly with the audio, often lacking synchrony with actions such as coughing or sneezing. However, the technology is advancing quickly and becoming more difficult to detect.
Is deepfakes illegal? ›
There's no federal law specifically addressing deepfake p*rnography, although if the images depict a minor, federal child p*rnography laws may apply.
How to stop deepfake AI? ›
Limit the amount of data available about yourself, especially high-quality photos and videos, that could be used to create a deepfake. You can adjust the settings of social media platforms so that only trusted people can see what you share.
What harm can deepfakes cause? ›
Left unchecked, deep fakes will increasingly cause marketplace disruptions, inflict individual and corporate reputational harm, and undermine our fundamental understanding of truth.
Can AI detect deepfakes? ›
But AI can also be used to detect AI-generated deepfakes. And the good news here is, even as deepfake creation evolves, so too will AI-powered deepfake detection technologies. Several detection tools are available today that ingest large sets of deepfake images, video and audio.
By leveraging artificial intelligence, deepfakes enable fraudsters to clone your face, voice, and mannerisms to steal your identity.
Can deepfakes be tracked? ›
Some companies, including Reality Defender and Deep Media, have built tools that detect deepfakes based on the foundational technology used by AI image generators.
What is the most common deepfake? ›
A common example of a deepfake video is 'face swap' in which the face of the victim is placed on a different body. This could create a scene which is embarrassing or even illegal. Another deepfake is known as 'face puppetry' in which the victim's lip movements are manipulated to literally put words into their mouths.
Are deepfakes illegal in NY? ›
In New York, legislation has been signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul (S1042A), explicitly banning the distribution of AI-generated deepfake content depicting nonconsensual sexual images. Violators may face up to a year in jail, and victims can pursue legal action for damages in civil court.
What is the unethical use of deepfakes? ›
Deepfakes are a subset of AI outputs, utilizing deep learning techniques like generative adversarial networks (GANs) to generate highly realistic but fabricated content, often raising ethical and legal concerns related to privacy, intellectual property, consent and the spread of misinformation.
Which world famous person was featured in a deepfake image? ›
08. The deepfake Tom Cruise on TikTok. Deepfakes have come so far in recent years that there's now a TikTok account dedicated entirely to Tom Cruise deepfakes.
Is Tom Cruise based on a real person? ›
Tom Cruise (born July 3, 1962, Syracuse, New York, U.S.) is an American actor who emerged in the 1980s as one of Hollywood's most popular leading men, known for his clean-cut good looks and versatility. Cruise, who took up acting in high school, made his film debut in Endless Love (1981).
Why is Miles Fisher famous? ›
Miles Fisher(I)
Fisher first became noticed as an actor after several self-produced videos became viral online. Soon, he began landing guest roles on television series like Gossip Girl and Mad Men before getting cast in his first leading role in Final Destination V.
Who is the famous Tom Cruise look alike? ›
Los Angeles-based Evan Ferrante, 44, started impersonating Tom in college
- Los Angeles-based Evan Ferrante, 44, started impersonating Tom in college.
- He got $40K for his first job and was able to pay off his debt in 'one swoop'
- Evan has been impersonating for two decades and traveled the world doing so.
