Nicki Minaj Enraged by Deepfake Video
Mad Queen
Nicki Minaj flipped her lid on Twitter after she saw a clip of herself in an uncanny deepfake parody video where she plays wife to Tom Holland while they have a dispute with neighbor Mark Zuckerberg, with both men also portrayed with deepfakes.
"HELP!!! What in the AI shapeshifting cloning conspiracy theory is this?!?!! I hope the whole internet get deleted!!!" she tweeted on Sunday.
When asked by an incredulous fan if the spectacle was even legal, Minaj tweeted, "I do not know! But as Queen of the British Monarchy & the commonwealth, I hereby abolish the internet. Effective @ 0900 military time tomorrow morning, 10th July, 20 hundred & 23. BON VOYAGE BITCH."
Minaj's anger and unease encapsulate the general wariness among some singers, actors, performers, and other creative people about how artificial intelligence technologies, such as deepfakes, are grabbing not just their faces and voices, but also their intellectual property, often without their permission. For another example, see author and comedian Sarah Silverman, who along with two other writers recently filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, for copyright infringement — with the trio claiming the company's AI models had used their published books as training data.
https://twitter.com/WhatEverWillie/status/1677858958936006657
Fake Out
The video that ruffled Minaj's feathers was a promo from a new show called "Deep Fake Neighbour Wars" from ITVX, according to Vibe. A press release claims it's the "world's first long form narrative show that uses Deep Fake technology."
The press release states that celebrity impressionists were tasked to mimic famous people like Minaj while wearing very realistic AI-generated deepfake faces. The comedy show portrays celebs as ordinary Britons living in the suburbs. A trailer shows the likenesses of Idris Elba, Chris Rock, Kim Kardashian, Adele, and Olivia Colman.
Some of the faces are incredibly lifelike, such as the one featuring Minaj and Holland, while others are not so well done — such as Matthew McConaughey, whose face looks strange and rubber-like.
The legality of deepfakes remains hazy. The New York Times reported earlier this year there are few legal remedies to combat the AI-powered videos, which have been used for everything from disinformation videos to porn to scams.
One thing's for sure: as intimated by Minaj, the courts are going to be wading into unprecedented territory.
More on deep fakes: Grimes Says She’ll Split Royalties With Anyone Who Deepfakes Her Voice Into a Song
