The deepfake scam era begins with an AI-generated Joe Rogan pushing penis pills on TikTok

pcgamer.com:

We are in the early stages of seeing how AI technologies are going to change elements of the world, both online and in the meatspace, and so far the verdict is decidedly mixed. Big tech is betting that it will revolutionise things like search before bleeding into all aspects of how we communicate and engage with the world. But this is powerful and cutting-edge technology, which means one thing: Bad actors are going to try and exploit these things in any way they can.

Deepfake videos have now been circulating online for a while; they are AI-generated clips where a person's image is superimposed over existing footage such that it looks indistinguishable from watching the real person. These clips are often accompanied by dire prognostications about how they'll be used in the future and now thanks to TikTok you can view one of the first widely spread examples.

The platform is serving users a scam advert that features an AI-generated version of the enormously popular podcast host Joe Rogan. Rogan is a controversial figure for various reasons, but this ad is absolutely nothing to do with the real Joe Rogan, instead featuring an AI Rogan who discusses penis pills over a video that alternates between shots of 'Rogan' talking and a demonstration of how to buy said pills.

The clip was brought to light by Coffeezilla, an investigator extraordinaire of the internet's murkiest corners—more recently, he's been embarrassing Logan Paul for the influencer's disastrous CryptoZoo project(opens in new tab).

Deepfake scams are here, and we’re not ready. pic.twitter.com/NtPKWGCULiFebruary 12, 2023

Whatever you may think of Joe Rogan, he's the victim here, and I encourage everyone to watch this video just to see how convincing the scam is. The