My pics were stolen & used in an AI deepfake vid – now I won’t ever post my kids online, what could happen is scary
A MOTHER was horrified when she discovered a parenting brand was advertising their products using an altered version of her TikTok video.
Sam vowed never to post images of her children online again following her “scary” experience with artificial intelligence.
Sam (@sammci9) has garnered almost 82,000 followers on TikTok, where she shares a glimpse into motherhood.
She went viral on the social media app when she vented about a brand using her to promote their products.
A screenshot showed they had edited someone else’s face onto her video.
“That’s not my face because they used AI to make a deepfake of me but that is my video that is on this account you’re watching right now,” she said.
Sam described the internet as a “scary place” as she complained about the altered image being used without her permission.
She said the deepfake image was among the “many reasons” why she will never post photos or videos of her children on social media.
“If they can do that to me, what will people do to videos of children,” she said.
“It’s very weird, it’s very scary, this is not normal, this is strange and I don’t understand how anybody behind a brand can think that’s OK.”
It took around 30 minutes for the brand to delete the video when Sam reached out to them.
She decided to share the worrying experience with her followers as a warning about internet safety.
Over 3 million people watched her video and it racked up thousands of comments from viewers who were equally disturbed by the deepfake situation.
Many commenters praised Sam for speaking out but were left curious about how she found the edited video.
“I keep constantly seeing ads like these and some will even use an AI voice if the creator they’re using is popular and it’s actually scary and insane like hello,” one person said.
“This is why the internet hasn’t seen a photo or video of my face in like five years! I keep my kids offline too,” another wrote.
What are deepfakes?
Here’s what you need to know…
- Deepfakes use artificial intelligence and machine learning to produce face-swapped videos with barely any effort
- They can be used to create realistic videos that make celebrities appear as though they’re saying something they didn’t
- Deepfakes have also been used by sickos to make fake porn videos that feature the faces of celebrities or ex-lovers
- To create the videos, users first track down an XXX clip featuring a porn star that looks like an actress
- They then feed an app with hundreds – and sometimes thousands – of photos of the victim’s face
- A machine learning algorithm swaps out the faces frame-by-frame until it spits out a realistic, but fake, video
- To help other users create these videos, pervs upload “facesets”, which are huge computer folders filled with a celebrity’s face that can be easily fed through the “deepfakes” app
“That happened to me with a maternity bra company, the internet really is a scary place,” a third chimed in.
“This is unhinged! How did you find out? My mind is blown,” another added.
Deepfakes are digitally altered videos that can convince people to share sensitive information and even their banking information.
McAfee security expert Jasdev Dhaliwal revealed there are five telltale signs that you’re looking at a deepfake.
He said AI technology struggles to accurately render fingers and hands, while the eyes often have a “soulless or dead look” to them.
Shadows will appear unnatural as well as voices and facial expressions look “robotic and stiff.”
He advised inspecting any words included in the video for poor grammar and checking if the claims made can be verified elsewhere.