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Creator Michel Janse says she was on her honeymoon when she learned that her likeness was being used to promote erectile-dysfunction pills online.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople had messaged me, saying, \u2018Hey, I saw this ad, and it didn’t look like you, but it was<\/em> you,\u2019\u201d she told Marketing Brew. \u201cIt was me, in my clothes, in my bedroom, but I didn’t do an ad there.\u201d<\/p>\n Janse says the ad, which she briefly showed on her TikTok account, was a deepfake, and depicted Janse talking about her husband \u201cMichael\u201d and his issues with ED. The ad pulled visuals from a 33-minute video about her divorce that she posted to YouTube a year ago, which she called \u201cby far the most personal thing I\u2019ve ever shared.\u201d That, along with the fact that the link in the ad directed to content that she described as \u201cbasically pornographic,\u201d made the experience all the more violating, Janse told us.<\/p>\n AI-generated deepfakes are a new reality, and one that creators like Janse, Ida Giancola, and MrBeast, as well as celebrities like Jennifer Aniston, Taylor Swift, and Tom Hanks, are all grappling with.<\/p>\n \u201cWith celebrities, this is a real issue right now because anybody anywhere can take the likeness of somebody and use it,\u201d Rahul Titus, global head of influence at Ogilvy, told us. \u201cWith the way social media works and the spread of fake news, the damage potential is endless.\u201d<\/p>\n There are some state-level laws regulating and limiting deepfakes, including in California and Illinois, and lawmakers have introduced some federal-level legislation, while the FCC and FTC have also moved to ban some deepfake usage. Meanwhile, Google, Meta, and TikTok have all introduced guidelines for labeling and limiting AI-generated deepfakes ahead of this year\u2019s elections. Some brands have also weighed in: Steak-umm created a video called \u201cDeepSteaks\u201d with doctored focus group testimonials to help advocate for the Deep Fakes Accountability Act.<\/p>\n But federal regulation still hasn\u2019t been passed\u2014and legislation doesn\u2019t often move at the same pace as technological developments.<\/p>\n \u201cLooking back, I probably should have been more shocked or concerned than I was,\u201d Janse said. \u201cBut when you hear so much about what can happen on the internet, I\u2019ve kind of been mentally preparing for my turn.\u201d<\/p>\n Concerns around deepfakes are mounting at the same time as brands are experimenting with the use of authorized AI-generated likenesses. In 2018, Cara Delevingne worked with German retailer Zalando to create more than 290,000 localized ads featuring her likeness, and in 2021, Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan partnered with Cadbury Celebrations and Ogilvy India on a campaign where small-business owners could generate ads where a likeness of Khan mentioned their business by name. Last year, Queen Latifah partnered with Lenovo on a similar campaign, and Meta reportedly paid celebrities like Kendall Jenner and Tom Brady handsomely for permission to use their likenesses as part of its AI Personas.<\/p>\n \u201cAs [AI] takes hold of influencer marketing and creative industries, you’ve got two options: you either embrace it or you fight it,\u201d Titus said.<\/p>\n But some brands have been pushed into the conversation around AI without actually using AI-generated likenesses in their own marketing. Le Creuset, for example, was promoted in videos featuring deepfakes of stars like Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift appearing to offer giveaways of the cookware in what ended up being a scam. A statement shared with Marketing Brew by Lindsey White, a press representative for Hunter PR, said Le Creuset was \u201cnot involved with Taylor Swift for any consumer giveaway,\u201d and pointed users to its official social channels to confirm the veracity of promotions or giveaways.<\/p>\n Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Some companies are looking to monitor social media to track unauthorized AI-generated uses of their brands. Last year, General Mills enlisted verification service Zefr to help identify instances of user-uploaded, AI-generated content involving the brand. Zefr CCO Andrew Serby thinks the ad industry will reach a point where it looks to determine \u201csome sort of common agreement governing AI use and enforcement,\u201d similar to the GARM Brand Safety and Suitability Framework.<\/p>\n When asked if he had any tips for brands as deepfake videos\u2014like the ones involving Le Creuset\u2014pop up, he encouraged them to develop action plans and \u201cstructured policies\u201d on generative AI. Otherwise \u201cit’s going to be Whac-a-mole\u201d trying to play catch up as AI-generated content spreads, he said.<\/p>\n For those whose likenesses are used without permission, as of now, there\u2019s little they can do beyond suing a company or person that uses their likeness, Wasim Khaled, CEO and co-founder of Blackbird.AI, a narrative and risk intelligence service, told us.<\/p>\n For Janse, that option doesn\u2019t inspire much hope. \u201cIf celebrities have dealt with this and haven’t been able to make a change, I hate to say I’m pessimistic about there being a change anytime soon, but I am,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n What\u2019s helped Janse get through this is knowing that her followers were quick to identify the deepfake as being very unlike her typical content.<\/p>\n \u201cI have some confidence in people being wise to what’s going on these days,\u201d she said. \u201cI know a lot of people are susceptible to falling for things like that, but my initial gut instinct was, \u2018It’s okay, it’s gonna be fine. People know I wouldn\u2019t do this, people know I’m not married to a man named Michael.\u201d<\/p>\n Overall, Titus acknowledged the importance of more consumer education on what\u2019s fake and what\u2019s real. One way to do that, he suggested, is to require brands to \u201cdeclare and disclose\u201d all AI content, though he said that may not happen overnight.<\/p>\n \u2018It took a while before it became mainstream to have paid disclosure around influencer content,\u201d he said. \u201cI would assume it’s going to take some time for us to get there.\u201d<\/p>\n Without clear labeling, Titus said brands, creators, and celebrities alike risk losing audience trust. But even with those risks, he said, \u201cthere are still some real advantages” to using AI-generated likenesses for those groups, because of the ability to hyperpersonalize messaging.<\/p>\n As Janse waits to see more regulations and disclosure requirements for AI content, she said this incident has prompted her to rethink whether she\u2019ll post her kids online after she becomes a parent or whether she\u2019d be comfortable agreeing to let a company use her likeness.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you would have asked me a couple months ago, I would have been like, \u2018If I felt safe about it, and if it was a life-changing amount of money, I would consider it,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cNow, having seen the dark side of things, I would really, really, really need to do my due diligence.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\u201cWe\u2019re living in a Black Mirror<\/em> episode\u201d<\/h2>\n
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