This week we tested AI Avatar cloning and Deepfake video. AI Avatar cloning is a way that content creators can create a realistic looking version of themselves. We did a sample video below, this is 100% Deepfake audio and video. The quality is almost there to be completely passable, but there are still some subtle irregularities you can see…. robotic tones etc…

You’ll notice that I don’t raise my hands in this video or show them at all, and there’s a reason behind this.

Part of the cloning process stipulates no hands above the waist and no hand gestures. Why… ?

AI has a hard time replicating hands. AI looks for pattern recognition and consistency to train the data model. Due to range of motion and possible states a hand can be presented in, it’s hard for AI to determine what a hand “should” look like. A hand gesture can be a wave, thumbs up or pointing as a few examples. This makes it hard for AI to understand what “state” a hand should be presented due to uncontrolled variables of movement. So, for now, hands can be a telltale sign of Deepfake. There are simply too many variables for an AI model to understand and present hands accurately at the moment.

This means, one way to potentially spot a Deepfake video… look for hands…

If you’re ever in a video call and something seems off… ask the participant to show their hands.