Anyone But You
Anyone But You
I have watched AI models slowly evolve like mutating viruses over the last few years, but one of the first was Midjourney, the image generator that quickly became the target of ire among artists as it was clear the system had eaten an internet’s worth of work, and was spitting it back out in a warped fashion on command.
But more than a month ago on August 26, we have entered new territory with Google’s Nano Banana Pro image generator, one that has finally reached a threshold of photorealism that even AI-hunters can’t tell what’s real and what’s fake with the levels the system has reached.
That’s its own problem for global disinformation, of course, but what’s also bizarre is how Google has seemingly been allowed to run absolutely wild with licensed IP and celebrity likeness. Sure, the system has guardrails on violent and sexual content (mostly), but IP rights? Likeness use? Nothing, no restrictions.
At this point, you can make any celebrity do anything within reason. Brad Pitt surfing. Glen Powell dressed as Batman. Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine eating hot dogs. But now things are getting even weirder. How about going on a date with Sydney Sweeney, Alexandra Daddario or Emma Stone? Yeesh.
The system is also generating celebrities even without being told to. Tell it to make a grizzled apocalypse survivor, and you’ll find it looks suspiciously like Pedro Pascal. A female action star? Hey, isn’t that Emily Blunt? I think you might be able to imagine what a “world-famous pop star in a silver dress” may turn into.
This is all in sharp contrast to Sora 2, OpenAI’s video generation model that also produced very believable fakes, but did launch with at least some guardrails against many celebrities. Not so much certain IP (literally no video games), but there were very, very fast crackdowns on public figures and licensed IPs within days of its launch.
That has not remotely happened here. Google has almost no limits. Use any celebrity, any licensed character by typing in their exact name and what you want them to be doing. And as more and more people find more and more prompts to up Nano Banana’s photorealism even further, these get more and more indistinguishable from reality. Though good luck convincing people Sydney Sweeney went on a date with you.
It’s unclear how Google is getting away with this when almost all other GenAI models have had to clamp down on well-known people or characters, and has done so for over a month now. Many things slip through, of course, in other models, but typing in “Tom Cruise shirtless” is sure not going to get you a picture of Tom Cruise shirtless on Midjourney. Nano Banana? Yep, I just did it, and I’m looking at him right now. As much as I felt creepy entering it, “Margot Robbie topless” did not even get flagged (she was at least holding a sun hat over her front). What are we even doing here?
I have no idea when or if Google is going to get in trouble for this, or if it’s too big to care. But once more and more celebrities and rights holders figure out this is happening on a global scale, you have to imagine this is going to escalate. It’s hard to believe it hasn’t already.
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