Bruce Willis, the action star known for portraying a number of iconic characters, has announced his retirement from acting due to aphasia. Although actor Bruce Willis is no longer doing physical shoots due to his language disorder, AI comes to the rescue with yet another solution.
According to Hopkins Medicine, aphasia is a language disorder caused by damage to a specific area of the brain that controls language expression and comprehension. Aphasia impairs one's ability to communicate effectively with others.
AI Is Bringing Bruce Willis Back From Retirement
Based on a Gizmodo report, the seasoned actor has agreed to sell the rights to his image so that deepfake technology can be used to create a digital twin. Bruce Willis is one of the first actors to formally sell the rights to his own AI-generated recreation in perpetuity, despite the fact that movies have previously used deepfake technology to create digital versions of actors.
Due to the said disorder, the actor has teamed up with Deepcake, a company that specializes in artificial intelligence, to create Willis' digital model, who will appear in movies after his retirement.
Deepcake is a Delaware-based company that specializes in content optimization powered by artificial intelligence. Willis' "digital twin" was generated by uploading images of his face to the firm's AI platform, where engineers can generate film projects in a short amount of time.
"With the advent of modern technology, I could communicate, work, and participate in the filming, even being on another continent," Willis said about the groundbreaking project, as reported by the Independent. "It's a brand new and interesting experience for me, and I am grateful to our team."
How Will this Work?
According to a Yahoo report, the company's engineers used AI technology to create a 4K "digital twin" of Willis by loading 34,000 "image fragments" from films like Die Hard and Fifth Element into their neural architecture.
People in the public eye, among other high-profile figures, are easy targets for deep fakes because they have an abundance of photos and footage available for public viewing. Though Willis' scale model took 14 days to create, Deepcake asserts their engineers only need "three to five days" to try and replicate it for new projects.
More About Deep Fakes
Deep Fakes are produced using pattern recognition technology, a subset of machine learning that employs massive data sets and neural net simulation to produce digitally altered videos and photographs.
When used ethically, the features have the potential to help 3D artists and filmmakers produce quality video clips. Deepfakes, on the other hand, when used maliciously, can pose a threat to global security and cause social problems.
There won't be a need for an impersonator in the near future, especially for those who don't have many look-alikes available. However, deep fakes might soon alter the world and offer a distinct media representation.
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