An uncannily realistic deepfake video, which features Malayalam actors Mohanlal, Mammootty, and Fahadh Faasil as characters in the Hollywood classic The Godfather, has been awing netizens ever since it was first uploaded to the internet on June 23. Kerala-based quantitative developer Tom Antony who created the video, however, has now shared a word of caution, especially to those who have been inspired by and seek to experiment with the artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
Highlighting the dangerous side of the deepfake technology and the ease with which it can be misused for malicious intent, Tom has called for people to be ethical and responsible while creating such videos. He also stated that he won’t make anymore such videos using another person’s face without permission.
In the latest video on his YouTube channel ‘Vavval Manusyan’ (bat man), Tom said, “I am the person who made the Godfather video that is now going viral on social media, and I am not proud of it. I had not expected it to go viral to this extent. My objective merely was to let people know that there is such a technology, and that everyone should be careful.”
Tom said while he got many comments calling him “brilliant” and “a genius,'' that was not true. “Anyone can make videos such as these,” he said, cautioning that even pornographic videos can be made in this manner using the photo of a person’s face alone. “It can simply be a photo you posted on Facebook years ago.”
At least some people must have felt the videos he made were mediocre, because they can recognise that they are fake, Tom said. “But that was on purpose. If I had just spent a bit more time on it, I would have gotten much better results, and that’s what is scary,” he said, adding that he hasn’t slept properly in the past few days because he has been paranoid about this technology being misused because of him.
“I am scared as I am talking to you. When the video went viral, my first reaction was happiness. But gradually, I started getting many personal messages and calls, including from the media. Everyone wanted to know how I made it, because they also wanted to make such videos,” he said, hinting at the possibility of the technology falling into the wrong hands. He further shared a video made by an Instagram page named hackers_pedia, in which the creator shares the experience of a girl whose photos were misused by her own uncle via deepfake technology.
In Tom’s AI deepfake video, which has been widely shared and circulated across social media over the past video, Mohanlal appears as Michael Corleone, Mammootty as Moe Greene, and Fahadh Faasil as Fredo Corleone — all unforgettable characters from Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather. The gangster epic, adapted to film from Mario Puzo’s book of the same name, is renowned as a pioneering gangster film that has significantly influenced the crime drama genre across the globe.
He later uploaded another video that reimagines Mohanlal as the legendary Don Vito Corleone, who was originally portrayed by Hollywood legend Marlon Brando. He has also posted a handful of such videos on his Instagram handles, featuring actors such as Shobana, Tovino Thomas, and even Shahrukh Khan in various film sequences.
Tom’s videos have since spawned a plethora of such deepfake renditions from netizens, casting prominent personalities including actors and politicians in Hollywood film scenes and other videos. On June 27, a Twitter user even shared similar videos featuring Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan as the iconic James Bond, and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor as Ethan Hunt from the Mission Impossible series.
Pinarayi as James bond
— Schiffskapitän (@damn_barbarian) June 27, 2023
Tharoor as Ethan Hunt
The AI revolution is here!! pic.twitter.com/UAD2ESrQRi