Tom Cruise, best known for his roles in the Mission Impossible film series, was reported to have joined Tiktok. But it turns out that someone built a fake version of him using Deepfake technology. Three videos in total were posted using an account called @deeptomcruise during January and February 2021.
Deepfake Tom Cruise went viral and here is why?
On February 22, the first deepfake video of Mr. Cruise was posted, which featured a fake Tom demonstrating his golf swing. “How are you doing, TikTok? Do you mind if I play some sports?” the impersonator asked into the frame, his voice sounding exactly like Tom’s. At the end of the video, which has nearly nine million views, the “deepfake” Tom also did a spot-on impersonation of his laugh.
In the second video, the deepfake version of the Knight and day actor shared a story about his time in Russia. And the acting was arguably even better (that video received 1.7 million views).
Tom’s very realistic A.I.-impersonator performing a magic trick with a coin was the focus of the most recent TikTok. Which was posted on February 26.
https://youtu.be/wq-kmFCrF5Q
Experts and non-experts alike have praised the videos. Which were posted last week without explanation or credits from a TikTok account simply named @deeptomcruise. For being among the most credible examples of the genre of fake videos yet made.
Who was the person behind those viral Tiktok videos of Tom Cruise?
Chris Ume, a video visual effects specialist from Belgium, created three mysterious deepfake videos of Tom Cruise that have gone viral on TikTok.
In a LinkedIn post and a message exchange with Fortune, Ume claimed credit for making the deepfake segments of the videos. However, he refused to answer any more questions about the videos. Arguing that he and the others who worked on them were not yet ready to speak to the media. Ume told Fortune, “We’re looking for the right way to talk about this.”
Since no name was attached to the TikTok account that released the videos. Finding out who was behind them became a bit of a guessing game. Few people realized Ume had secretly shared links to the videos on his LinkedIn profile. Along with the witty comment “never thought I’d be sharing a TikTok channel on my LinkedIn ;).”
The latest trio of fake Tom Cruise videos has been hailed as among the most compelling deepfakes ever made. “These are extremely well done,” Hany Farid, a professor of digital video forensics at the University of California at Berkeley, told Fortune.
Stay tuned with Stanford Arts Review for latest updates.
