Did AI Putin Just Quiz Putin?

During a Q&A session on Thursday, December 14, 2023, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) generated “deepfake” of the Russian President Vladimir Putin asked him a question in front of the big audience that was present online.

Putin combined his end-of-year media conference with his yearly phone-in with the Russian people. The event, which is well attended and meticulously planned, offers Russian citizens an opportunity to have direct conversations with the president about a variety of topics.

The AI deepfake asked Putin the following “Mr. President, good afternoon, I am a student studying at St Petersburg Institute. Do you have a lot of twins? And another point, what is your attitude towards the dangers with neural networks and artificial intelligence?” This was translated from Russian to English by a live NBC News translation.

The audience burst into tears, the shock was Putin’s firm stare and pause.

Putin being Putin gave the following response “I see you may resemble me and speak with my voice. But I have thought about it and decided that only one person must be like me and speak with my voice, and that will be me.”

Long-running rumors in the media and on social media that Putin occasionally employs body doubles at occasions have just been refuted by the Kremlin. Meanwhile, the application of AI deepfakes to disseminate false information is causing alarm all around the world.

“Deepfakes” are currently taking their toll on the spread of false news. This is because AI is able to use the concept of deepfakes and generate images and videos.

Like many other international leaders, Putin is trying to establish Russia as a leader in AI technology at a moment when nations are fighting for supremacy.

The European Union, China, and the United States are vying for supremacy in artificial intelligence while simultaneously acknowledging the risks associated with this rapidly advancing field. Some AI-generated avatars are now almost identical to humans.

There is an extremely high chance that after the Vladimir Putin Q&A session, Putin stood in front of the mirror and said “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?”

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