Kim Kardashian has been accused of exploiting artificial intelligence to market a new Skims app after users spotted something weird in a video she posted online.
After launching Skims in 2018, Kim took to Instagram last week to promote the company’s most recent development: a whole new app.
The reality TV star appears at the beginning of the video in an all-black costume and says, “I’m so excited about our new Skims app.”
The video then transitions to a series of snippets demonstrating the app and how it works, with Kim continuing: “It makes shopping so simple and is tailored to what we’ve heard our customers desire the most.
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“We’ve made browsing all of our collections super seamless and personalized to your preferences.”
A post shared by Kim Kardashian (@kimkardashian)
Kim posted the video on Instagram with the caption: “We heard you: the SKIMS App is finally here!” – but while some have welcomed the new option to shop, others are still focused on the advertisement.
Though Kim can be seen speaking at the beginning of the video, several comments criticize her appearance of being AI-generated – when people aren’t referring to Taylor Swift’s new album.
Viewers have used the cadence of Kim’s speech as evidence for their ideas, with one asking, “Why does it sound so generated[?]”
Another person posted, “Is she an AI now??,” while a third wrote, “I swear this is AI voiceover.”
“Is it just me, or does this ad appear to be completely AI-generated? “Even the voiceover doesn’t sound like her,” said another.
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If the news about deepfakes has taught us anything, it’s that artificial intelligence can be used to generate some extremely convincing videos, which is why some of Kim’s admirers didn’t doubt for a second that they were looking at the genuine Kim.
Viewers have commented on the video, praising Kim for being ‘iconic’ and calling her ‘beautiful’, with one even expressing they wanted to chop their hair to appear like Kim in the video.
Siwei Lyu, a digital media forensics expert at the University of Buffalo, recently told USA Today that algorithms can use a small sample of actual audio from a celebrity, such as Kim, to build a synthetic facsimile of their voice.
Other programs can then be used to generate lip motions that can be superimposed upon photographs of the star.
“All the software’s pretty easy to use,” he remarked.
Kim has not commented on the video’s creation as of this writing (22 April).
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