Engagement hackers on X-formerly-Twitter have a new strategy to attract attention: use AI to undress celebrity men and publish it as if it’s the real deal.
The strategy, which was flagged earlier this week by writer Sarah Hagi, is pretty simple. Posters take existing paparazzi photos of celebrity men and alter them so that the men are shirtless and, most often, extremely jacked. They then republish the synthetic images as if they’re new and real. The undressing is more than likely nonconsensual, making the whole scheme pretty gross.
One frequent target is Callum Turner, the British actor and husband of pop star Dua Lipa. An account called “UKViewTIme” has posted several different AI-altered photos of Turner and Lipa together on the streets of NYC. Lipa, for her part, is seen completely clothed in pants and long jackets — while Turner is unnecessarily strolling about shirtless for no clear reason. Original paparazzi shots showthat Turner was clothed in real life.
Another recent post, published by an account called “BiTheWay,” show images of the “Stranger Things” star Noah Schnapp walking with the actor Sheridan Townsley. In the altered image published by “BiTheWay,” both of the young men are inexplicably pictured shirtless, however the original paparazzi images reveal that both Schnapp and Townsley were indeed wearing shirts and jackets.
The culprits are going to extreme lengths to preserve the alleged authenticity of their inspiration. For instance, they’re going as far as to ensure that pop sensation Harry Styles’ famous tattoos are intact in AI-manipulated, topless images. “UKViewTime” was the culprit once again.
Another repeat target has been Knox Jolie-Pitt, the son of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. We also found one manipulated image of Pitt himself, who, despite wearing a yellow suit in the original photos, was altered to be shown in a black wife beater that reveals artificially-jacked arms.
The deepfakes can be hard to spot because most of the images are in large part real. But if you find yourself wondering why Dua Lipa is dressed in an ankle-sweeping coat while her husband is out sans shirt, the answer is likely because you’re looking at a reality skewed by AI.
More on AI and deepfakes: Liberals Are Falling for Extremely Obvious AI Fakes
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