OK, are we the only ones freaked out?? A new deepfake Tom Cruise TikTok account has a lot of people fearing for the state of our reality! Um, WHAT??
No, we’re not being dramatic. Have you happened to see the latest videos of Tom Cruise golfing, talking to the camera, or doing a magic trick? Well, it seems those are not actually the Mission Impossible lead at all, but a deepfake, defined as:
“A video of a person in which their face or body has been digitally altered so that they appear to be someone else, typically used maliciously or to spread false information.”
Related: Tom Cruise’s COVID Rant Has Remaining M:I7 Crew ‘Walking On Eggshells’
The account (@deepTomCruise), which posted its first video Tuesday, has already gained over 228K followers and is close to a million likes on the popular social media app. But while the person looks and talks a lot like the Hollywood A-lister, it’s likely just an impersonator! One Twitter user went sleuthing and claimed to have discovered the man behind one of the most insane pranks yet:
“Found the deepfake tom cruise guy. It’s @milesfisher, an actor and coffee subscription executive, and a Tom Cruise impersonator, with a deepfake over him. His personal website links to the fake Tom Cruise tiktok that’s going around.”
While the link appears to be removed from his website now, after a quick look at the actor’s social media, we noticed a similar move when the performer made a parody video of the Oscar nominee running for president in 2019. So why are these TikTok’s blowing up the internet today when that video didn’t freak everyone out quite as much? The answer might concern you. Here’s what a few people have to say on the mind boggling issue:
See this video of Tom Cruise?
Well, it’s not Tom Cruise.
It’s AI generated synthetic media that portrays Tom Cruise onto a TikTok user using Deepfakes.
Seeing is no longer believing. pic.twitter.com/CRix0hD9OH
— Mckay Wrigley (@mckaywrigley) February 25, 2021
Deep fakes are getting scary good and taking over TikTok. Every public figure should just be on there with a verified account – even if they don’t want to make content – to make it easier to identify their fakes. Here’s Tom Cruise: pic.twitter.com/xoSJt1bvVR
— lauren white (@laurenmwhite) February 25, 2021
A few more worried viewers added:
“Just had a flashback to a video I saw last night where it talked about how that virtual reality version of tom cruise on tiktok is actually terrifying because it could severely mess with the perception of reality in the future and now I’m spiraling in my office”
“Don’t RT the Tom Cruise deepfake. It’s convincing but still fake. This technology is dangerous and will be abused by bad actors. I don’t trust Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, or other social media platforms to identify, flag, and take them down as quickly as they should.”
Related: Leah Remini Thinks Tom Cruise’s Leaked Rant Was FAKE?!
And if you thought Trump’s “fake news” motto was as bad as things could get for journalism and media, this person makes another incredibly valid point about a real problem with the use of deepfakes, writing:
“You know, very soon now, Republicans will start claiming their embarrassing, corrupt recordings were deep fakes. It’s literally right around the corner. Another misinformation pitfall to contend with. Fox will start airing deep fakes of Democrats as real news, etc. Get ready.”
Oh, god. Can’t you totally see that happening, though?? No more trusting anyone these days!! If you thought spam calls were bad, imagine fake FaceTime’s, like this commenter did:
“Have a look at this to convince yourself that the era of video-being-evidence is over. If your boss tell you to transfer $10m during the video-call, do not.”
Reactions, Perezcious readers?? Do you think this is as scary as many social media users believe? Did the video fool you at first glance? Sound OFF in the comments (below)!
[Image via deepTomCruise/TikTok & New Pictures/WENN]
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