What marketers need to be aware of regarding video deepfakes

If you've heard the term "deepfake," you might immediately be thinking of ethically ambiguous, fraudulent or downright disturbing videos that have bobbled across the internet over the last several years. But as deepfake videos - and the AI technology behind them - only get more sophisticated, it's essential that both creators and marketers in every sector understand the ways they function and how they can be applied in order to keep ahead in our changing climate.

For those who aren't familiar Deepfakes are fake media that have been digitally manipulated to replace the appearance of a person convincingly - resulting in the capability to make videos which look and feel authentic, but aren't. This is why it's normal that they could receive a negative rap as they spread misinformation and exploit peoples' likenesses.

Like any technology, though it's in the way you make use of it. Forward-thinking marketers and creators have been using deepfake technology -- in a responsible and ethical mannertoto develop new forms of art and tell fresh stories as well as improve their own videos.

In this piece, we'll cover some examples of deepfake technology being used to good ends and useful purposes, along with suggestions about how to play around with the tech yourself.

What is a fake?

A deepfake is a video or audio file of an individual whose appearance or body is digitally changed. Deepfakes employ AI to make likenesses, relying on pattern recognition to match tones, expressions and movement.

The other terms used to describe a fake could refer to artificial or synthetic media, as well as artificially-generated content.

 A short history of deepfakes

The invention of the Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) began the trend towards realistic fakes in 2014. GANs consist of two AI agents which make fakes and recognize forgery, allowing the AI to improve over time.

They can also be made by using a deep-learning computer network, also known as a variational auto-encoder (VAE). VAEs can be trained to encode images to low-density representations of the subject and then decode those representations and convert them into images that move.

The term "deepfake" wasn't coined until 2017. In the year media, almost all of them sounded the alarm over deepfakes - with the first viral fake videos of Barack Obama and Donald Trump being shared across social media.

However, deepfakes have other uses that are becoming more and more useful to ordinary marketers, not just hackers and Internet trolls who want to spread false information.

How do deepfakes work?

Machine learning AI is a critical part of developing a deepfake. Deepfakes depend on this tech to detect trends in images and information.

To create a fake deepfake video, a developer needs to supply these machine-learning algorithms with long hours of footage, which then trains the deep neural networks to identify tones, patterns, facial expressions, and other things. Next, it is time to combine these learnings with images.

It's not difficult to build a fake deepfake. just existing video or audio of who you're trying to recreate. And although it may be difficult at first creating a fake doesn't require complicated tools - the only requirement is basic knowledge in graphic design as well as video editing abilities.

Artful examples of video-based deepfakes

Marketers are in the early stages of adopting deepfakes and other AI technologies to create video content and digital marketing. These examples of fakes don't necessarily fit in a marketer's toolbox yet however, they demonstrate the power of these AI technology right now.

 1. Chris Shimojima's "Dolche - Big Man"

The stunning Staff Picked music video from director Chris Shimojima takes deepfake technology and flips it on its head, using people from 14 different artists (and 40 contributors) to create a compelling tale. It's an artistic, unexpected combination of tech and human emotion.

 2. David Beckham's multiple different

Malaria Must Die used AI to influence soccer superstar David Beckham to speak in nine different languages, leveraging fake technology to make a big splash and dramatically increase their campaign's reach.

 3. Salvador Dali's museum greeting

It took more than 1000 hours of machine-learning to enable the Dali museumMuseum to arrive at their fake version of Salvador Dali precisely perfect. The new technology gives visitors to museums a new perspective that allows them to get information about the art of Salvador Dali from him himself!

3 everyday uses for deepfake technology for video

Though some uses of deepfakes might be out of the typical marketer's capabilities however, there are a variety of creative and innovative ways you can use deepfake technology in your job.

• Correct sloppy lines within posts: If you have only a little editing knowledge is familiar with the difficulties and tribulations of cutting together clean audio recordings from a conversational interview. Whether your subject misspoke or didn't respond with the full length of a phrase, using the technology of deepfake to fill in gaps is a great way to keep your post-production procedure moving forward with no need to reshoot. (Just ensure you have consent from the person you're interviewing and of course!)
   
  
• Customize videos for customers on a large the scale of Marketers can use easy personalization by sending greeting or product videos that include prospect's names or the names of their companies. You only need their names, and some sound from the camera for the deepfake technology to incorporate it into any video.
   
  
• localize your videos: Deepfake tech introduces a new world of easy translation. Instead of relying on subtitles, AI can introduce spoken-language translations or created using an audio library or the voice of the actor who recorded it.

New technology, opportunities for new technologies

It's impossible to know for certain how the next generation of AI is going to bring however one thing is certain: deepfakes won't go away. Like other AI-powered technologies (chatGPT for instance? ) People who are willing to experiment with deepfakes and be open to the potential for pitfalls will have the ability to be competitive in the ever-changing video landscape.