OpenAI's Sora 2 has become popular among those who have been using it to create AI-generated videos of almost anything.
However, there has been a rise in the use of various dead celebrities looking alive and well in videos posted online, with the watermark confirming that it was made using OpenAI's Sora 2 video generator. If OpenAI already has measures in place to prevent public figures from being deepfaked, why are dead celebrities being used in these videos and spread online?
OpenAI Sora 2 Deepfakes: Likeness Protection for Dead Celebs?
A new report from ArsTechnica highlights the latest online trend as more and more people use OpenAI's Sora 2 to create AI-generated videos and deepfakes. In particularly, many users have used Sora 2 to bring back dead celebrities yet again.
The report notes that OpenAI's latest statement regarding Sora 2's release explicitly claims that they are preventing the creation of AI-generated videos depicting public figures. This encompasses celebrities, politicians, and more.
"We also take measures to block depictions of public figures (except those using the cameos feature, of course)," said OpenAI.
The company also stated that they would let those who have opted in to be "cameos," or people who have consented to allow Sora 2 to use their likeness, see the videos created using their faces or mannerisms for their review.
However, since it is an opt-in method, ArsTechnica noted that dead celebrities or personalities cannot consent to OpenAI's Sora 2 video generator, and this is the loophole that many online creators have taken advantage of.
Despite the other measures present on the platform, like adding a watermark to every video, users can still create these deepfake depictions of deceased people.
Sora 2 Deepfakes of Dead Celebrities Are Trending Online
Since the launch of Sora 2, many dead celebrities have been the subject of AI deepfakes online, with the likes of Michael Jackson appearing in a comedic stand-up kitchen routine.
One of the most controversial Sora 2 video generations that saw a massive trend online was the Stephen Hawking clip, which depicts the physicist performing tricks on a half-pipe skateboarding ramp that includes flips and turns.
There is also a clip of Martin Luther King's famed speech, but instead of the activist perfectly delivering his speech, the deepfake video showed him stuttering and forgetting his lines.
Daughter of the late Robin Williams, Zelda Williams, has since expressed her dismay over the use of dead celebrities in deepfaked videos made with Sora 2 in her recent statement via an Instagram Story post (archived by Deadline). It is important to note that most estates or kin do not consent to the use of their departed for AI depictions like these.
OpenAI has previously faced lawsuits in the use of celebrities, both departed and living, in AI recreations, with ArsTechnica noting that this could spark another case against the company.
Originally published on Tech Times
