Vegans Praise Meat in a Chilling Deepfakes Awareness Campaign by Steak-umm

Deepsteaks is a chilling campaign by the frozen sliced steaks company Steak-umm that shows how easily innocent information can be manipulated using deepfake technology.

If a deepfake can make a vegan say they love meat, imagine what a deepfake could make you say. Deepfakes are highly realistic AI-generated videos that can make anyone appear to say or do almost anything. Because of this, they are often created for nefarious purposes. We used them to make a point, but they could pose a very real threat to society.

To prove their point, a group of vegans was brought in as a focus group to talk about why they chose to stop eating animal products. As part of the study, each vegan was provided with what looked like a Steak-umm sandwich (it was actually vegan). Slowly, they began eating and enjoying the provided food. When they regrouped, they were shown footage of themselves praising meat. Needless to say, each participant was shocked to see words being put into their mouths using deepfake videos.

Participant: That’s identity theft, point blank. Those words did not come out of my mouth.

Moderator: Did everyone just watch this, right? Did you hear him say that?…Sounds like you love meat.

Participant: It’s not me, I told you that. How many times do I have to repeat myself?  I’m telling you that is not my voice.

Moderator: Are you sure about that? 

Participant: Positive.

After this exchange, the moderator came clean about what the study was really about.

What this focus group was actually about was showing how deepfake technology can impact everyday life.

via Boing Boing