Elizabeth Stanton
Despite recently signed legislation in California, artificial intelligence deepfakes of celebrities are as prevalent as ever.
One of the most recent has been a clip of Jennifer Aniston that appeared on Facebook, showing her speaking about being in “bikini shape even in my 50s” and promoting collagen supplements that are the reason “why my body doesn’t hold onto fat,” per US Weekly.
The video was taken down, but fans questioned it and sent it on to fitness influencer Ben Carpenter, who examined the video.
He determined that the clip initially seen in the fake ad actually came from a Hollywood Reporter roundtable interview with other stars, including Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts.
Fans questioned a video of Jennifer Aniston selling a health supplement, and multiple people clocked it as an AI deep fake. (Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)
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“You can see the body language matches. During this snippet of the video she was actually talking about her acting, nothing to do with her ‘bikini body’ at all,” Carpenter notes in the caption of his Instagram post about it.
He continued, “Once again, this is another warning shot showing us what AI is capable of. It is going to get harder and harder to work out which videos are genuine and which are not.”
Representatives for Aniston did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Rob Rosenberg, founder and principal of Telluride Legal Strategies, agreed that “clearly the video was a fake.”
Rob Rosenberg, founder and principal of Telluride Legal Strategies, agreed that “clearly the video was a fake.” (James Devaney/GC Images)
“I think that the fans of Jennifer Aniston are likely to, if they scrutinize the video, I do think that you’d probably get tipped off that this was not authentic. There are moments where the lips don’t sync up with the audio, plus also, I guess if they were fans, they might be familiar with the roundtable that she was previously in as well,” he said.
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AI expert Marva Bailer agreed that fans are likely to question a video like the one shared, particularly since Aniston does not do a ton of social media.
“Jennifer joined Instagram 2019, and she actually set a world record because she had a million followers in five hours. But if you look at her Instagram, even with her PR people, she has less than 200 posts. So Instagram isn’t really the way she’s communicating to her audience,” she said. “So while we see an ad with her promoting a product on Instagram right away, our Spidey sense comes up because that’s not how she communicates to her audience.”
Aniston is far from the first celebrity to have their likeness used in an AI-created advertisement. Stars like Tom Hanks, Taylor Swift, Scarlett Johansson and more have all contended with the technology.
Tom Hanks is one of many celebrities who have had their likeness used without permission in an ad using AI. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
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“I’ve seen it described as one big game of whack a mole,” Rosenberg said.
“Certainly you want to stay vigilant and take these things down where you spot them. All of the platforms, once they’re notified that this is not authentic, that this is not authorized, then they’re obligated to take the video down. But obviously, it’s incumbent upon you and your representation to keep an eye out for these kinds of things and stop them as early as possible. In this case, I’m actually shocked that it took a million views or something like that before it was flagged by somebody as inauthentic,” he continued.
According to Carpenter’s post, the clip of Aniston had over 700,000 views when he reported it.
“What is changed in the age of AI is these tools, these digital tools have become so much more accessible to people with really low entry or no cost. Whereas before it would be complicated computer-aided design or agencies or very expensive, complicated software,” Bailer explained. “So people are feeling, ‘Hey, I can just make an ad’ and it is not okay and stars are now looking to find them.”
“I’ve seen it described as one big game of whack a mole.”
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She continued, “Another area that’s super interesting to watch is the legislation. The legislation is now getting down not just to the creator or the employee, but it’s looking at the entire ecosystem. And what that means is looking at the potential company that’s putting it on or the provider that has the app or even the media to get to you. And that’s going to be very, very hard to litigate and track. But it’s big money if they get found.”
Legislation is on the books in Tennessee and now California, with two recently signed bills in September.
On Sept. 17, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, put his signature on two bills supported by the actors’ union, SAG-AFTRA, that offered protection for actors’ likenesses, living and dead — AB 1836, which restricts the usage of AI to create digital replicas of dead performers without the consent of their estates, and AB 2602, which increases consent requirements for living performers for AI replicas.
“We continue to wade through uncharted territory when it comes to how AI and digital media is transforming the entertainment industry, but our North Star has always been to protect workers. This legislation ensures the industry can continue thriving while strengthening protections for workers and how their likeness can or cannot be used,” Newsom said in a statement.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two bills supporting protections for performers regarding AI but vetoed a third broader bill last month. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
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“It is a momentous day for SAG-AFTRA members and everyone else because the AI protections we fought so hard for last year are now expanded upon by California law thanks to the legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom,” SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said. “They say as California goes, so goes the nation.”
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Later in September, Newsom vetoed a separate bill, SB 1047, which also had the backing of SAG-AFTRA.
According to The Associated Press, the governor’s veto delivers a major setback to attempts to create guardrails around AI and its rapid evolution with little oversight.
“While well-intentioned, SB 1047 does not take into account whether an AI system is deployed in high-risk environments, involves critical decision-making or the use of sensitive data,” Newsom said in a statement. “Instead, the bill applies stringent standards to even the most basic functions — so long as a large system deploys it. I do not believe this is the best approach to protecting the public from real threats posed by the technology.”
Fran Drescher became the SAG-AFTRA president in 2021 and was on hand for the signing of two AI bills with Gov. Gavin Newsom. (Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)
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“I will give a lot of credit to California that I think they’ve been fairly aggressive in passing legislation around AI and misleading information that is delivered to consumers,” Rosenberg said. “I think they really are leading the charge on trying to wrap their hands around how do we protect consumers from misunderstandings that could arise from use of this technology.”
Regarding the vetoed bill, he added, “Governor Newsom is the governor of a state where on the one hand, you’ve got the entertainment industry center and with Hollywood. And on the other hand, I think, you know, it was something like 32 out of the top 50 A.I. developers in the world are in his state as well. So, you know, he’s trying to balance competing interests within his state. Obviously, he wants people, these companies, to stay there. He wants them to continue development, bring in investment dollars, all of that sort of stuff. And I think that that’s what we saw with this one particular bill that he is trying to lead the way in so many of these bills that have been turned into law. But at the same time, he doesn’t want to stifle, stifle innovation that he is looking for a way to give people the runway to figure out all of the good uses of this technology while keeping an eye out and being vigilant over the bad uses.”
The key to dealing with this for celebrities and the average person alike is going to be vigilance.
Stars like Jennifer Aniston, as well as the average person, will have to be vigilant about AI-faked videos circulating on the internet, say experts. (Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images)
“Legislation will not stop unauthorized ads since the age of digital,” Bailer said. “There’s going to be creators that are going to put whatever they want out there for either for fun or for profit or for harm. And it’s up to the authorities. It’s up to the fans, and it’s up to PR to really try to find those people and stop them again, where it makes sense. And that’s what we have to look at. Where are our priorities, and where do we put our attention? Because sometimes when we put our attention on the good bad guys, we’re missing the good guys. But people are going to do whatever people want to do because that’s what makes us human.”
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“With every law, it’s only as effective as the enforcement of the law. And I think that depends upon how vigilant lawmakers and law enforcement will be in going after people, because certainly if I were Jennifer Aniston in this case, I could bring a private cause of action against the people if I could find out who they are,” Rosenberg said. “But even once legislation gets enacted into law, the question is just will governments, will law enforcement actually enforce these laws and to what degree?
He added, “this is no fad. It’s not hype. This is coming. And, you know, it’s just going to, you know, be more and more prevalent in business in life. You know, it’s going to touch everything that we do. I think we’re just we’re learning as we go along.”
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