Andy BaioJust found this browsing Twitch’s “AI” tag: a 24/7 livestream of deepfaked Twitch streamers and obnoxious personalities (e.g. Elon Musk, Jordan Peterson, Joe Rogan, Ben Shapiro) answering questions from chat. It’s very uncanny valley: avatars move around, drink water, etc. https://www.twitch.tv/atheneaiheroes
Material for the deepfaked video/audio/dialogue is all crowdsourced in their Discord: video clips, voice clips, catch phrases, details on their personal opinions and biography…
Ughhh, just learned the guy behind this is a streamer turned manipulative/abusive cult leader and crypto scammer. People Make Games did a year-long exposé on him in 2019. (thx, @map) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgNXJQ88lfk
Investigating Athene, the Youtuber Who Started a Religion
Jason Petersen (he)@andybaio wait what was your take on this thing you chose to share before finding out (quelle horror!) that this guy was an abuser?
I didn’t know what to take away from you posting it initially, and now I’m even more confused by the “ughhh”…
@jason The whole thing's a nightmare, aggressively labeled with "Parody" to subvert the ethical and legal issues, and I shared it because I've never seen anything like it. I'm not at all surprised to learn a livestream centered around deepfakes was created by a shitheel— but I wasn't expecting a cult leader!
ℹ️❤️🖥 aka Compy-chan
Josh Lewis!@andybaio @jason The cult side of things is definitely sad. But I'm OK with people streaming deepfakes as long as they're extremely clearly marked as parody and they're not encouraging harassment, violence, or engaging in those types of speech that are illegal in any context.
The fact that it is possible and it's as "good" as it is seems reason enough to poke around with it and have fun.