Olga Loiek, a 21-year-old student from Ukraine studying at the University of Pennsylvania, has unwittingly become the face of a burgeoning AI phenomenon on Chinese social media platforms. Loiek, who launched her YouTube channel last November, was shocked to discover that her image had been co-opted by artificial intelligence to create virtual alter egos, reported Reuters.
These avatars, carrying typically Russian-sounding names such as “Natasha,” purported to be Russian women fluent in Mandarin, expressing gratitude towards China for its support of Russia and hawking Russian goods like candies. Despite Loiek’s initial online presence, these AI-generated personas quickly amassed hundreds of thousands of followers, eclipsing her own digital footprint.
Speaking to reporters, Loiek expressed unease at seeing her likeness manipulated to promote messages she fundamentally disagreed with, stating, “This is literally like my face speaking Mandarin and, in the background, I’m seeing the Kremlin and Moscow, and I’m talking about how great Russia and China are. That was really creepy because these are things I would never say in life.”
Deepfake Worries Continue
This case exemplifies a troubling trend where AI appropriates snippets of real individuals’ digital personas to fabricate entirely fictional characters. Experts warn that these fabricated identities often used to market products to Chinese consumers, highlight the ethical and legal dilemmas surrounding AI’s rapid advancement.
As reported by Reuters, Jim Chai, CEO of XMOV, a firm specialising in advanced AI technology, underscored the accessibility of such tools, noting, “The technology to create these images is very common because many people use it in China. For example, to produce my own 2D digital human, I just need to shoot a 30-minute video of myself, and then after finishing that, I re-work the video. Of course, it looks very real, and of course, if you change the language, the only thing you have to adjust is the lip-sync.”
The proliferation of AI-generated content raises concerns about misinformation and intellectual property rights. Governments and regulatory bodies worldwide are grappling with how to effectively manage and legislate these technologies.
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Scrambling Regulation
China recently proposed draft guidelines to standardise the AI industry, while the European Union’s AI Act imposes stringent transparency measures on high-risk AI systems.
Xin Dai, associate professor at Peking University Law School, highlighted the challenges ahead, as reported by Reuters, “Regulation is scrambling to catch up with the pace of AI development. With increasingly powerful tools for creating and disseminating content becoming available every minute, the volume of these concerns is simply too large to ignore.”
As debates around AI ethics intensify, Olga Loiek’s experience serves as a stark reminder of the complex implications of AI in the digital age.