Neil DeGrasse Tyson is firing back at some of the recent deepfake videos that have been circulating online lately.
The 67-year-old astrophysicist is understandably not pleased by the fact his likeness is being used in AI-generated videos to promote unverified scientific theories.
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Because of these videos, people—even people he knows—have been led to think that Neil believes in the flat earth theory, among other things.
During the Thursday (October 30) StarTalk video, he stated, “That’s not me.”
“I’m flattered that people want to put me into content in a way that attracts audiences. I’m seriously flattered by that. However, it’s a deepfake. If its fooling people and people are not thinking ‘oh this is a parody, this is just a fun excursion’ then it’s transgressive to the integrity we’ve worked so hard to build. Something has got to be done about that,” he added.
The writer even thinks that sometimes AI videos can be “fine,” but only when they are “obvious” parodies. He specifies that when “the viewer does not know it’s parody,” that’s when “you’re crossing a line.”
One way you can always tell a Neil video is fake is if he’s trying to sell you random stuff.
“You will not see my hawking products, not soft drinks, not sneakers. I don’t care, it doesn’t matter what it is that’s out there. If you do (see it), its not simply, chances are it’s a deep fake, it is a deep fake! Pure and simple,” he said.
Last year, superstar Taylor Swift had to contend with the rise of explicit AI images of her circulating online, prompting even the White House to respond.