An actor impersonates 20 Celebrities with deepfake technology altering his face: Astonishing Video

An actor collaborated with deepfake artist Sham00k in order to make celebrity impressions with a more realistic touch. 

Jim Meskimen and Sham00k made a YouTube video showing the results of their partnership, and they are truly impressive. While Meskimen impersonated the voices himself, deepfake software applied the facial features of 20 Hollywood actors, such as Nicholas Cage, Morgan Freeman, Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, and even former President George W. Bush.

Meskimen’s talent as an impressionist is surely undeniable but so is the capability of the deepfake software. It just shows how far technology has come in blurring the lines between what is real and what isn’t. Nevertheless, it still takes a lot of work. According to Sham00k, the completion of Meskimen’s video took more than 250 hours of work, 1200 hours of material, 300000 pictures and nearly one terabyte of data to create.

Sham00k released a video showing the techniques and datasets he used to accomplish what he did:

Lawmakers, as well as tech companies, have taken note of the spreading of this technology, and researchers have begun developing tools to spot deepfakes. Google has released a number of 3000 deepfakes in an effort to help the cause. Microsoft, MIT, and Facebook are all working to fight the fakes. Reddit has banned AI-generated deepfake pornography, and the state of California now allows its residents to sue people who use the software to put their image in porn without getting permission first. While the world is working on raising its defenses against fake news, deepfakes are making their way as the next frontier.

What are your thoughts on the subject of deepfakes?

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