It has been 30 years since Salvador Dali passes on, but thanks to technology, the prolific Spanish surrealist is coming back to life. But thankfully, not in an eery way. So, you can put your whatever holy objects away. TBH, I am not familiar with Dali and his works, but what caught our attention was how AI and deepfakes are being used to bring the artist back to life. Not did technology bring back Dali, but also enable him to present his life in person.
A partnership between The Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, and San Francisco’s Goodby Silverstein & Partners (GS&P), visitors hitting up The Dali Museum from April 2019 will be able to learn more about the modern-day art legend’s life and work straight from the horse’s mouth in a 30th-anniversary event called Dali Lives.
Here’s how it works:
“The Museum began this immersive project by collecting and sharing hundreds of interviews, quotes, and existing archival footage from the prolific artist. GS&P used these extensive materials to train an AI algorithm to “learn” aspects of Dali’s face, then looked for an actor with the same general physical characteristics of Dali’s body. The AI then generates a version of Dali’s likeness to match the actor’s face and expressions. To educate visitors while engaging with “Dali Lives,” the Museum used authentic writings from Dali himself – coupled with dynamic present-day messages – reenacted by the actor.”
And here’s the official description of Dali Lives.
Dalí once said: “Si muero, no muero por todo,” or “If I die, I won’t completely die.” Thirty years after his death, his words take on a new meaning at The Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. “Dali Lives” uses artificial intelligence to let visitors experience his bigger-than-life personality in an up close and personal way.
We have already seen how CGI can “revive” Paul Walker and how deepfakes are being abused to create fake celebrity porn. Digitally recreating a dead person and having him present his own life story in a life-like manner with the expression and mannerisms to boot is the next-level shit. Now, while fascinating, the technology that made this possible has a more profound implication for humanity’s future. Like, for example, how technology can fake a person of influence and importance and make him/her deliver a message that could change the fate of mankind.
In past, you can fake messages, digital or written, or even imitate voices, but we learn to detect whether or not those are frauds. However, if you can fake the person that looks exactly like the real person and have that message delivered in video, one will hardly suspect anything other than that is the real deal. If this technology becomes widely accessible, fake news will be the least of our worries. I hope the day of wondering if a video message is real will NOT come.
Images: YouTube.
Source: Laughing Squid.
