Scarlett Johansson Condemns AI Deepfakes After Viral Kanye Video

I'm sure that, like me, you were disturbed and upset over the vile antisemitic commercial that Kanye West aired during the Super Bowl. It was incredibly gross, and honestly, there should be some sort of accountability from Fox for taking money to our advantage.

After its airing, many people flocked to Twitter to voice their disapproval. It was nice to see people speaking out.

But then a video went viral. It depicted celebrities including David Schwimmer, Steven Spielberg, Jerry Seinfeld, Adam Sandler, Scarlett Johansson, and Sacha Baron Cohen, giving Kanye the finger.

It was a video that should have had us all rejoicing...but it was AI.

Of course, several of the people depicted in the video had already spoken out about Kanye on their social media, but they did not ask or even approve of being in the video.

It was made without their knowledge or their consent and then posted to X, where it stayed until celebs began calling it out as AI.

This deepfake video does not have a public author, but it immediately spawned backlash. No matter what the cause is, even if you think celebrities might agree, you do not have the right to steal their image and likeness.

In a statement to People, Johansson addressed the deepfake video:

“It has been brought to my attention by family members and friends, that an A.I.-generated video featuring my likeness, in response to an antisemitic view, has been circulating online and gaining traction. I am a Jewish woman who has no tolerance for antisemitism or hate speech of any kind. But I also firmly believe that the potential for hate speech multiplied by A.I. is a far greater threat than any one person who takes accountability for it. We must call out the misuse of A.I., no matter its messaging, or we risk losing a hold on reality.”

This kind of incident raises many new questions about AI and responsibility. Should X and Musk be responsible for what's posted on the site? How can these videos be vetted for AI before they're posted?

And where is the line between parody and identity theft?

When I was a kid, I loved the fake endorsements in Cracked Magazine. But those were cartoons drawn, so I never thought they were real. And even when Photoshop came into play, there were tells.

As AI gets better, it's constantly pushing back on us to make defined laws around it.

We're in unprecedented times, and we need to act fast while there's still some semblance of reasoning and understanding around this tech. We need social media companies to act as well to try to avoid having these videos go viral.

There have to be limits aside from community notes that deliver consequences.

Let me know what you think in the comments.