Google makes it easy for you to deepfake yourself

YouTube short is Rolling A new AI-powered feature gives creators an easy way to realistically replicate themselves in front of the camera. launch, He hinted earlier this yearreflects the platform’s fraught relationship with AI-generated content, adding more generative features as it struggles to Contains AI slopDeep fraud and impersonation.

YouTube says the new tool will allow users to create a digital version of themselves, called an avatar, which can be inserted into existing short videos or used to create entirely new videos. The company said the avatars “will look and sound like you,” making it a safer and more secure way to use AI to create new content.

Creating an avatar is a little more complicated than simply pressing a button, but it seems fairly straightforward. In a Blog post Outlining the process, YouTube said users must first record a “live selfie” that captures their face and voice while following a series of prompts. For best results, the company recommends good lighting, a quiet area, a background free of other people or images of faces, and holding the phone at eye level.

Once avatars are created, users can select “Create a video with my avatar” while creating a video to create a clip of prompts, which can be up to eight seconds long, according to 9to5google. Users can also add their avatar to “eligible Shorts videos” in their feed, though YouTube doesn’t specify what makes Shorts videos eligible.

The AI ​​avatar feature comes with fairly strict limitations. They can only be used in the creator’s original videos, who also control whether their short videos can be remixed. YouTube says a creator can delete their avatar or videos where they appear at any time. Avatars that are not used to create new content will automatically be deleted for three years.

Not everyone will be able to use this feature right away. YouTube says the tool will be “rolled out gradually,” though it didn’t provide a timeline or indication of where it will be available first. The company says creators must be at least 18 years old and have an existing YouTube channel.

Its arrival comes as one of Google’s main AI competitors, OpenAI, withdraws from video production. The startup said it was sunset Its Sora video tool last month after a year of Struggling To launch the wannabe social platform. It has been expensive and faced a host of copyright challenges, deepfakes controversies, and negligence that have made it an unattractive bet for investors ahead of an expected IPO this year.