If you have been on the internet for some time, I’m sure you have come across the term “deepfake” at least once. The AI-based technology, initially used for academic purposes, has gained a fair amount of traction over the past few years and is continuously developing for various use-cases, be it making Elon Musk sing or inserting your face in a famous movie clip. Here comes the weird part though, some companies are buying faces of real individuals to create an army of deepfake clones for the marketing and educational industry. So yeah, you can now sell your face to a company!
Sell Your Face to Create Your Deepfake Clone
As per recent reports, many startups are now buying faces of real individuals to create digital deepfake copies of them. One such company is Hour One, and it uses its AI-based deepfake technology to generate a mash-up of real footage with a digital character based on a real individual. So if you are interested, you can apply to hand over the rights to your faces to Hour One via their official website.
Once you apply by submitting your Instagram profile and some personal information, Hour One will use a 4K camera to record a clip of your face making different facial expressions in front of a green screen, and that’s about it. Following this task, your job will be done.
The company will then use the recorded clip of your face to create your digital clone, which they are calling the “character”. The company aims to make several of these characters for its database, and hence, wants individuals of every age, gender, and race to join them. As per the company’s statement, it currently has around 100 such characters stored in its database.
“We’ve got a queue of people that are dying to become these characters,” says the Strategy Lead at Hour One, Natalie Monbiot.
Following the creation of characters, the company will then have the right to use them for marketing or educational projects of its clients. So, every time a client licenses your character for a project, you will receive a small fee for it.
The Negative Impacts
Now, although deepfake can be used for entertainment and useful purposes, it might have some malicious implications. For starters, many companies do not have a proper safety and security policy in place to protect the rights of deepfake videos. Furthermore, we have already seen companies like Reddit and countries like China ban deepfake videos due to their negative impacts. In fact, companies like Microsoft have also developed dedicated tools to detect deepfake videos and images online. You can also try out some of the best deepfake apps and websites right here.
If you are thinking of selling your face to one of these companies, or better yet Hour One, you should know that there is a risk factor related to it. However, it is interesting to see where the world is heading with advancements in such technologies. Like, you can literally sell your face now, and even earn money for it. How crazy is that? So, let us know your thoughts in the comments below. And stay tuned for more such crazy-tech stories in the future.
