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AI Technology

Taylor Swift Deepfakes Originated From AI Challenge, Report Says 62

Posted by msmash from the closer-look dept.
The pornographic deepfakes of Taylor Swift that proliferated on social media late last month originated from an online challenge to break safety mechanisms designed to block people from generating lewd images with artificial intelligence, according to social network analysis company Graphika. Bloomberg: For weeks, users of internet forum 4chan have taken part in daily competitions to find words and phrases that could help them bypass the filters on popular image-generation services, which include Microsoft Designer and OpenAI's DALL-E, the researchers found. The ultimate goal was to create sexual images of prominent female figures such as singers and politicians. "While viral pornographic pictures of Taylor Swift have brought mainstream attention to the issue of AI-generated non-consensual intimate images, she is far from the only victim," said Cristina Lopez G., a senior analyst at Graphika, in an email. "In the 4chan community where these images originated, she isn't even the most frequently targeted public figure. This shows that anyone can be targeted in this way, from global celebrities to school children."
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Taylor Swift Deepfakes Originated From AI Challenge, Report Says More

Taylor Swift Deepfakes Originated From AI Challenge, Report Says

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  • Porn deepfakes have been around forever. (Score:5, Informative)

    by RedK ( 112790 ) on Monday February 05, 2024 @10:21AM (#64215540)

    Why is it suddenly such a big thing because they pasted Taylor Swift's face on them ?

    • Re:Porn deepfakes have been around forever. (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anachronous Coward ( 6177134 ) on Monday February 05, 2024 @10:24AM (#64215554)

      Because all things Taylor Swift are big news right now.

      The media seems unable to "shake it off" as it were.

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by bickerdyke ( 670000 )

        Probably some guys with fragile masculinity are afraid that some guy could be demoted from "NFL Player" to "Celebrity boyfriend"

        • Probably some guys with fragile masculinity are afraid that some guy could be demoted from "NFL Player" to "Celebrity boyfriend"

          Given how Miss Swift writes paychec, er I mean songs, I'd say exactly no guys are worried that "celebrity boyfriend" will be a permanent demotion beyond the off-season or next album release. Whichever gets dropped first.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by smooth wombat ( 796938 )
        The media seems unable to "shake it off" as it were.

        The only reason the media is covering anything related to her is because Republicans are making a big deal of a blonde haired, blue eyed, Christian female country singer telling the younger folks to get out and vote.

        That is the only reason this entire escapade exists. If she wasn't so vociferous in wanting people to vote, particularly against the orange criminal, she'd be a sidenote even with her relationship with Kelce because Republicans would
        • The republican paranoia of Taylor Swift is more recent than the overall hoopla surrounding her relationship with Travis Kelce.

          She seems like a genuinely good person who simply wants everyone to be treated with kindness.... oh, that's why the GOP is scared of her.

        • The only reason the media is covering anything related to her is because Republicans are making a big deal of a blonde haired, blue eyed, Christian female country singer...

          ... who grew up on a farm in small-town rural America, was a high school cheerleader, and is dating a star NFL quarterback who also grew up in small-town America, son of a steelworker.

          All of those bits matter. Swift & Kelce are the ideal "real" American couple in the eyes of those who want to turn the clock back to the 1950s blue collar Wonderbread America that never was. They could be characters on Happy Days, even before Fonzie came in to make it all edgy by saying "Ayyyy" and snapping his fingers

          • Swift and Kelce seem like decent people who don't have a lot of exploitable weaknesses.

            Expect the MAGA world to make a huge stink about elitist Taylor Swift trying to stop her private jet from being tracked. Though the fact that Elon Musk has been fighting the same battle will complicate things for them. Some. I don't think they're quite sure what to think of Musk.

        • Re:Porn deepfakes have been around forever. (Score:4, Interesting)

          by RedK ( 112790 ) on Monday February 05, 2024 @02:51PM (#64216750)

          > The only reason the media is covering anything related to her is because Republicans are making a big deal of a blonde haired, blue eyed, Christian female country singer telling the younger folks to get out and vote.

          Are they though ?

          All I see is mostly Democrat aligned media talking about her non stop.

          • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

            by smooth wombat ( 796938 )
            All I see is mostly Democrat aligned media talking about her non stop.

            That's because you're willfully blind. The Fox tabloid has had guests on their show debating if Swift is a Pentgaon psyop [cnn.com]. This resulted in the Pentagon having to come out and explicitly deny any involvement [politico.com]. That is how absurd it is.

            Other conspiracy mongers have come out with similar nonsense [theguardian.com]. As have other deluded right wing wackos [npr.org].

            • Re: (Score:1)

              by RedK ( 112790 )

              To rebute my point that the Taylor Swift talk comes from the left, you link me left wing sources talking about Taylor Swift.

              Strange.

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by Anonymous Coward

            All I see is mostly Democrat aligned media talking about her non stop.

            Yes, but how are they doing it? By quoting the Republican-aligned media and making fun of it.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by MobyDisk ( 75490 )

      Because pop-culture is a vehicle for news. Nobody in the US cared about FoxConn's abusive labor practices in China until Apple contracted FoxConn to make iPhones. Suddenly, a celebrity (Steve Jobs) was associated with it and it became big news.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Photoshopped fakes were easy to detect. Even if the creator was very competent, you could easily track down the source images they used for the face and the body.

      That also took some effort and skill to produce anything decent, where as now you just ask an AI.

      It's also different when it's someone making the images themselves, and when an AI service profiting from generating non-consensual pornographic images of people. Not just celebrities either, some of those services advertise quite explicitly on Twitter

      • Re:Porn deepfakes have been around forever. (Score:4, Insightful)

        by MobyDisk ( 75490 ) on Monday February 05, 2024 @12:44PM (#64216118) Homepage

        and when an AI service profiting from generating non-consensual pornographic images of people

        Is it different? Before AI, when someone used Adobe's Creative Cloud to make a deepfake, wasn't Adobe profiting? If someone uses an online tool for nefarious purposes, can we blame the advertisers who used the site, or the ISP who supplied them internet? Wasn't the power company profiting too? Let us avoid the "blame the service provider" concept and stick to blaming individuals.

        This line of thinking drives us toward the corporate "nanny state" where services self-neuter. I asked ChatGPT questions about a video game ("uplink") where you play a hacker, and it refused to help because it doesn't condone hacking. It no longer can generate yo-mama jokes because insulting people isn't allowed. Stable Diffusion's NSFW filter refused to edit a family picture because someone was wearing a bikini. Better to hold individuals responsible for how they use the tools.

        • //This line of thinking drives us toward the corporate "nanny state" where services self-neuter.// As intended. Some do it deliberately, some do it because they're quoting lines they've heard from their favorite "news" space without actually considering them. In each case the purpose is to restrict freedom in favor of the control of our old corporate overlords.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by MobyDisk ( 75490 )

            I see this line of thinking as a well-intentioned attempt to stop the problem at the root cause. Perhaps sometimes is is just is anger at corporations and frustration with feeling like there is nothing that can be done. Sometimes people think "Hey, this is a new problem!" because they just heard about it. So many problems that are ascribed to new tech are just the same old problems with a new embodiment.

        • Better to hold individuals responsible for how they use the tools.

          "Individual responsibility" goes a long way towards explaining why American has so much gun violence and why deaths of pedestrians at the hands of SUV and trick drivers is rising steeply and at a 40 year high.

          Guns n' trucks are protected by very very effective lobbying, with deep pockets and especially cultural identity roots (often manufactured, but they're there now). AI is not, and I can see why the companies don't especially want to take

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by MobyDisk ( 75490 )

            Okay, so going with your example, and combining that with the concept of making the corporations responsible, where does that put us? Should we ban trucks? Or make truck manufacturers liable for pedestrian deaths? Is that where you are going with this line of thinking? That makes me wonder: is that what they do outside of America?

    • Why is it suddenly such a big thing because they pasted Taylor Swift's face on them ?

      Because half the country think she's a some sort psyop agent for the pentagon or maybe Biden. This makes it very big news.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by argStyopa ( 232550 )

      Either part of the psyop, or a byblow of it.

      First she goes hard left after years of being studiously politically neutral/invisible. (Was this a plan or is this just her breaking free of her publicist/parents?)
      Massive pub. -- the deepfakes might be part of it?
      Romance with pro football player
      Massive grammy win.
      His team wins Superbowl.
      He proposes to her before/during/after game.
      Massive pub.
      She publicly endorses Biden or if he doesn't make it, his nominated surrogate somewhere around their fairytale wedding d

      • Either part of the psyop,

        Hahaha

        First she goes hard left

        Yes comrade, I love her hard left songs

        Shake [the chains of the bourgeoisie] off
        Should have said no [to the dominance of the capitalist class]
        [the people's flag is deepest] Red
        Ready for [the rise of the worker]

        It's kind of astonishing that you think a potential endorsement of a centre-right presidential candidate who is running against a treasonous crook is somehow swinging hard left.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Because she's a useful figurehead for pushing an agenda

      The elite class doesn't want the underclass to have access to important tech.

  • Really everyone? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by bickerdyke ( 670000 ) on Monday February 05, 2024 @10:47AM (#64215682)

    This shows that anyone can be targeted in this way, from global celebrities to school children.

    I think it's more like "anyone who has a large set of published pictures available"

    I probably couldn't ask a GAI to create lewd pictures of my neighbor, cause it wouldn't know how my neighbor looks like. And even if could add my own training data, it probably would need more that one or two random pictures.

  • Quite seriously, it's almost like Mickey Mouse all over. Something happens, nobody gives a fuck. Something happens to that Swift girl and everyone's up in arms about it.

    The hell is going on here?

    • Well, the message of the Samsung executive that there is no real Taylor Swift hasn't yet reached the powers to be. When it does, the issue will disappear all by itself.

      https://mobile.slashdot.org/st... [slashdot.org]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Dusanyu ( 675778 )
      Celebraty worship has gotten out of hand.

      • She's pretty and popular, she must be important and powerful, right? ...our social primate brains are not evolved for handling modern societies of millions of members.

    • To understand this, you must first understand that the media is controlled.

      This ask yourself, who is benefiting from this?
      I'll give you a hint. Politicians who want to divert people's attention to something else while they do something nefarious. And also this singer for having the whole media talk about her.

  • Public figures getting known fakes hitting public awareness is just kinda funny to me.

    Fakes used for propaganda, fraud, to cause distress to average joes/janes, or anything used to threaten... Those I have a big issue with.

    • Segregation is bad no matter the flavor. (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Public figures getting known fakes hitting public awareness is just kinda funny to me.

      Fakes used for propaganda, fraud, to cause distress to average joes/janes, or anything used to threaten... Those I have a big issue with.

      So "public" figures are humans who are devoid of feelings of distress? Can never feel threatened or embarrassed over having to constantly deny every deepfake that grows with clarity and quality with each iteration of this problem, making denial that much harder for anyone and everyone?

      Perhaps society should have more of an issue with your attitude, since every public figure is still considered a private citizen and human being.

  • I took on for the team and checked the new stuff out. After extensive research, II can confirm the new stuff is just as easy to spot as the old stuff.

    Your welcome.

  • "This shows that anyone can be targeted in this way, from global celebrities to school children."
    once again, "reporters," needs I remind you that AI is not magic. It cannot create something that is hasn't heavily sampled on the public internet + with info around it explaining what it's seeing and sampling. The 2nd part of what they mentioned in that statement does not exist on the public internet to be sampled. So that'd make it basically impossible with the tech we have now.

    • I really hate to tell you this, but for months now we've been able to make LoRAs (Low Rank Adaptations) that modify the trained model as it's used, fine-tuning it for a specific subject. LoRAs only require a few images: it's common to use 3 different images for a person for example. It can work with just 1 image, although results will be better/more flexible with more. LoRAs are cheap and easy to generate, and the result is a very tiny file. You don;t have to train a whole model to get any specific subject,

      • Check this repo: https://github.com/InstantID/I... [github.com] There is now an implementation within controlnet in both automatic1111 and comfyUI. It only requires one image (although you can use multiple images, which I think does work marginally better) requires zero training and yields EXCELLENT mind-blown results, significantly better than LoRA (at least for human faces). Individual person LoRA's are now basically obsolete with this tool.

    • "This shows that anyone can be targeted in this way, from global celebrities to school children." once again, "reporters," needs I remind you that AI is not magic. It cannot create something that is hasn't heavily sampled on the public internet...

      Let me just stop you right there and ask the relevant question; Given the internet addiction problem at every age fueled by smartphone and social media addiction, what makes you assume the overwhelming majority (like 98%+) of those living in First World countries, have somehow failed to heavily sample themselves, all over social media for a planet to see?

      Narcissism is a helluva drug.

  • Color me not surprised as soon as I saw 4-chan is somehow involved.
    • 4chan gets blames for lots of stuff. The children who frequent that site have horrible parents who are for some reason off the radar.
  • Is the reason why there are no deep fakes of Trump's Pee Tape because the bots that delete all leaks of the real Pee Tape also delete the deep fakes as a bonus?
  • Stable diffusion is not new by this point. This is advertisement for Taylor Swirft across multiple media

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