Tencent Cloud, the cloud services division of Chinese tech giant Tencent, has introduced a groundbreaking digital human production platform, enabling users to generate deepfakes based on a three-minute video clip and 100 sentences of voice material.
Utilizing Tencent’s in-house artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the deepfake generator can produce convincing deepfake videos within 24 hours at a cost of approximately 1,000 yuan ($145).
Tencent Cloud Bridging the gap between AI and deepfakes
The deepfake creation service offered by Tencent Cloud can analyze and train itself on three-minute videos and 100 voice clips to produce realistic deepfakes.
The service is available in both Chinese and English and offers digital humans in five styles: 3D realistic, 3D semi-realistic, 3D cartoon, 2D real person, and 2D cartoon.
Tencent aims to use the service for hosting live-streamed infomercials catering to the Chinese demographic, with other potential applications including representation of doctors, lawyers, and other professionals.
An accessible AI-driven solution
Chen Lei, General Manager of Tencent Cloud Intelligent Digital Human Products, shared the company’s vision to build an automated “AI+ Digital Intelligent Human Factory” that relies on a self-service, one-stop platform for production, sales, and service.
The planned digital human factory will depend on the Tencent Cloud TI platform, a machine learning platform that offers over ten AI algorithms.
Customized Q&As can be created for the digital humans, transforming them into a type of deepfaked chatbot.
The videos avoid flat intonation and single speech rhythm through the use of in-house small-sample timbre customization technology that relies on deep learning acoustic models and neural network vocoders.
Regulatory measures in place
As AI-created images become more challenging to distinguish from real images, the risk of misuse has increased. In response, Beijing has already taken steps to regulate deepfake technology.
In January, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) started requiring “deep synthesis service providers” to ensure their AI algorithms are not being exploited for illegal activities, such as fraud, scams, and disinformation.
The CAC stated that “services that provide functions such as intelligent dialogue, synthesized human voice, human face generation, and immersive realistic scenes that generate or significantly change information content shall be marked prominently to avoid public confusion or misidentification.”
This regulation prohibits organizations or individuals from using technical means to delete, tamper with, or conceal relevant markings.
With Tencent Cloud’s deepfake creation tool, synthetic spokespeople have become more accessible than ever before. However, the potential for misuse in various industries and the challenges posed by AI video generation must be carefully considered and managed.
Source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/tencent-cloud-with-deepfake-creation-tool/