What marketers need to be aware of regarding video deepfakes

When you hear "deepfake," you might immediately be thinking of ethically ambiguous, fraudulent or downright disturbing videos that have been circulating around the internet over the last several years. As fake video content - and the AI technology behind their creation - continue to become more sophisticated, it's essential that both creators and marketers in all industries understand what they do and how they can be applied in order to remain ahead in the ever-changing environment.

For the uninitiated, deepfakes are synthetic media that has been created digitally and altered to alter or recreate a person's appearance convincingly, resulting in the ability to create videos which look and feel authentic, but they aren't. Therefore, it's not surprising that they could get a bad rap for distributing false information or exploitation of the likenesses of people.

Similar to any technology, however it's all about how you make use of it. Innovative marketers and creatives have already begun using the technology of deepfake and ethically responsibly and ethically --to create new art forms, tell new stories, as well as improve their own video marketing campaigns.

In this article we'll look at some instances of deepfake technology being used to good ends in addition to suggestions on how to experiment using the technology yourself.

What's a fake?

A deepfake can be described as a video or audio file of a person whose face or body is digitally altered. Deepfakes use AI to make likenesses, by using patterns to identify facial appearance, tone and movements.

Other terms for a deepfake can include synthetic or artificial media or AI-generated content.

 A short history of deepfakes

The creation of Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) began the trend towards realistic fakes in 2014. GANs consist of two artificial intelligence agents that make fakes and recognize forgery and allow the AI to improve over time.

They can also be made by using a deep-learning computer network called a variational auto-encoder (VAE). VAEs are trained to encode images in low-dimensional representations of a object and decode the representations back into moving images.

The phrase "deepfake" was not coined until 2017 and, in the year media, almost all of them sounded the alarm over deepfakes as the first viral deepfake video featuring Barack Obama and Donald Trump making the rounds on social media.

Deepfakes are also used for purposes which are becoming increasingly relevant for everyday marketers and not only hackers or internet trolls trying to spread false information.

How are fakes made to work?

Machine-learning AI is an essential element of creating a fake. Deepfakes depend on this tech to spot trends in visuals as well as information.

To create a fake deepfake video, the developer has to feed these machine learning algorithms with hours of actual footage. This then trains the deep neural network to recognize patterns, tone, facial expressions, and more. The next step involves combining the learnings and graphics.

It's not difficult to build a fake deepfake. simply existing videos or audio of the person you're trying to imitate. While it could seem difficult at first, constructing a deepfake requires no complicated tools - just basic knowledge of graphic design and editing video skills.

Some examples of artistic video deepfakes

Marketers are still in early stages of adopting deepfakes and other AI technology for video and digital marketing. These fake examples won't precisely fit into the marketer's toolbox just now however, they demonstrate the capabilities of these AI technology right now.

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

The stunning Staff Picked music video from filmmaker Chris Shimojima takes deepfake technology and flips it over its head by incorporating people from 14 different artists (and 40 contributors) in a single tale. The result is an artful, unexpected combination of tech and human expression.

 2. David Beckham's many languages

Malaria Must Die made use of AI to influence soccer superstar David Beckham to speak in 9 different languages. The campaign leveraged deepfake technology in order to create a big splash and dramatically increase their impact.

 3. Salvador Dali's museum greeting

It took over 1000 hours of machine learning to allow the Dali museumMuseum to get their version of deep fake Salvador Dali precisely right. The new technology gives visitors to museums a new perspective: they get to learn about art from the artist himself!

Three everyday applications for deepfake technology for video

While some applications of deepfakes are beyond an common marketer's grasp There are many innovative and innovative ways you can use deepfake tech in your own job.

• Fix flubbed lines in post: Anyone with even cursory editing experience is familiar with the difficulties and challenges of mixing clean audio recordings from a informal interview. Whether your subject misspoke or didn't respond with an entire phrase, using the technology of deepfake to fill in blanks can be a fantastic option to keep your post-production process moving without the necessity of reshoots. (Just ensure you have consent from the person you're interviewing, of course!)
   
  
• Personalize customer videos on a large size: Marketers can implement easy personalization by sending video greetings or promotional videos that include prospect's names as well as their names and company names. You only need their names, and some audio recorded from your camera to use deepfake technology in incorporating it into any video.
   
  
• Translate your video: Deepfake tech introduces an entirely new realm of simple translation. Instead of relying on subtitles, artificial intelligence can add spoken, translated audio that is either derived from an audio bank or from the initial actor's voice.

New technology, opportunities for new technologies

It's impossible to know for certain about what future developments in AI will bring however one thing is certain: deepfakes aren't going anywhere. Similar to other AI-powered technologies (chatGPT for instance? ), those eager to try deepfakes while keeping their eyes open to the potential for pitfalls will be well-suited to be competitive in the ever-changing video landscape.