We can build immortal celebrities from ChatGPT and their existing back catalogs<p>Our reverence towards stars and celebrities was not borne of the 19th century’s cinematic revolution, but rather has been a resilient aspect of our culture for millennia. Ancient tales of immortal gods rising again and again after fatal injury, the veneration and deification of social and political leaders, Madame Tussauds’ wax museums and <a data-i13n="cpos:1;pos:1" href="
https://www.livescience.com/18649-oscar-psychology-celebrity-worship.html">the Academy Awards’ annual
In Memoriam segment[/url], they’re are all facets of the human compulsion to put well-known thought leaders, tastemakers and trendsetters up on pedestals. And with a new, startlingly lifelike generation of generative artificial intelligence (gen-AI) at our disposal, today’s celebrities could potentially remain with us <a data-i13n="cpos:2;pos:1" href="
https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/news/photographer-uses-ai-to-imagine-how-dead-famous-people-would-look-today">long after their natural deaths[/url]. Like ghosts, but still on TV, touting Bitcoin and Metaverse apps. Probably.</p><h2><strong>Fame is the name of the gam</strong></h2><p>American Historian Daniel Boorstin once quipped, “to be famous is to be well known for being well-known.” With the rise of social media, achieving celebrity is now easier than ever, for better or worse.</p><span id="end-legacy-contents"></span><p>“Whereas stars are often associated with a kind of meritocracy,” <a data-i13n="cpos:3;pos:1" href="
https://as.vanderbilt.edu/communication/people/claire-sisco-king/">Dr. Claire Sisco King[/url], Associate Professor of Communication Studies and Chair of the <a data-i13n="cpos:4;pos:1" href="
https://as.vanderbilt.edu/cinema-media-arts/">Cinema and Media Arts program[/url] at Vanderbilt. “Celebrity can be acquired through all kinds of means, and of course, the advent of digital media has, in many ways, changed the contours of celebrity because so-called ordinary people can achieve fame in ways that were not accessible to them prior to social media.”</p><p>What’s more, social media provides an unprecedented degree of <a data-i13n="cpos:5;pos:1" href="
https://www.thecut.com/2022/09/ray-j-claims-that-kim-kardashian-was-behind-the-sex-tape.html">access and intimacy[/url] between a celebrity and their fans, even at <a data-i13n="cpos:6;pos:1;elm:affiliate_link;sellerN:time;elmt:;" href="
https://shopping.yahoo.com/rdlw?merchantId=7212db91-cd64-4c1b-ab0d-1d1c998f089e&siteId=us-engadget&pageId=1p-autolink&featureId=text-link&merchantName=time&custData=eyJzb3VyY2VOYW1lIjoiV2ViLURlc2t0b3AtVmVyaXpvbiIsInN0b3JlSWQiOiI3MjEyZGI5MS1jZDY0LTRjMWItYWIwZC0xZDFjOTk4ZjA4OWUiLCJsYW5kaW5nVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly90aW1lLmNvbS80OTE0MzI0L3ByaW5jZXNzLWRpYW5hLWFubml2ZXJzYXJ5LXBhcGFyYXp6aS10YWJsb2lkLW1lZGlhLyIsImNvbnRlbnRVdWlkIjoiZDc1ZWU0ZmQtOGZhYy00MzIzLTliYTctNThjMTRmYzA1ZDFlIn0&signature=AQAAAUwQ0Gdm-C5DyvRvDz3ri0sbP0Dv2N7W-XLZvAdpg5JX&gcReferrer=https%3A%2F%2Ftime.com%2F4914324%2Fprincess-diana-anniversary-paparazzi-tabloid-media%2F">the peak of the paparazzi era[/url]. “We develop these imagined intimacies with celebrities and think about them as friends and loved ones,” King continued. “I think that those kinds of relationships illustrate the longing that people have for senses of connectedness and interrelatedness.”</p><p>For as vapid as the modern celebrity existence is portrayed in popular media, famous people have long served important roles in society as trend-setters and cultural guides. During the Victorian era, for example, British folks would wear miniature portraits of Queen Victoria to signal their fealty and her choice to wear a white wedding gown in 1840 is what started the modern tradition. In the US, that manifests with celebrities as personifications of the American Dream — each and every single one having <a data-i13n="cpos:7;pos:1" href="
https://www.buzzfeed.com/kristenharris1/hollywood-nepotism-babies-privilege">pulled themselves up by the bootstraps[/url] and <a data-i13n="cpos:8;pos:1" href="
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/may/15/australian-millionaire-millennials-avocado-toast-house">sworn off avocado toast[/url] to achieve greatness, despite their humble beginnings <a data-i13n="cpos:9;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/hitting-the-books-the-warehouse-alessandro-delfanti-pluto-press-163008791.html">presumably in a suburban garage of some sort[/url].</p><p>“The narratives that we return to, “ King said, “can become comforts for making sense of that inevitable part of the human experience: our finiteness.” But what if our cultural heroes didn’t die? At least not entirely? What if, even after Tom Hanks shuffles off this mortal coil, his likeness and personality were digitally preserved in perpetuity? We’re already sending long-dead recording artists like Roy Orbison, Tupac Shakur and Whitney Houston back out on tour as holographic performers. The Large Language Models (LLMs) that power popular chatbots like ChatGPT, Bing Chat, and Bard, are already capable of mimicking the writing styles of whichever authors they’ve been trained on. What’s to stop us from smashing these technologies together into an interactive <a data-i13n="cpos:10;pos:1;elm:affiliate_link;sellerN:YouTube;elmt:;" href="
https://shopping.yahoo.com/rdlw?merchantId=89f68c82-f255-44fa-8db9-03fec996b93a&siteId=us-engadget&pageId=1p-autolink&featureId=text-link&merchantName=YouTube&custData=eyJzb3VyY2VOYW1lIjoiV2ViLURlc2t0b3AtVmVyaXpvbiIsInN0b3JlSWQiOiI4OWY2OGM4Mi1mMjU1LTQ0ZmEtOGRiOS0wM2ZlYzk5NmI5M2EiLCJsYW5kaW5nVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cueW91dHViZS5jb20vd2F0Y2g_dj1iMUFJQXl6ZVQ3SSIsImNvbnRlbnRVdWlkIjoiZDc1ZWU0ZmQtOGZhYy00MzIzLTliYTctNThjMTRmYzA1ZDFlIn0&signature=AQAAAe7x5CyI_0kItE3K-DJL5_li7lpwA_8ilgFI1QGpSAv7&gcReferrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Db1AIAyzeT7I">Tucker-Dolcetto amalgamation[/url] of synthesized content? Turns out, not much beyond the threat of a bad news cycle.</p><h2><strong>How to build a 21st century puppet</strong></h2><p>Cheating death has been an aspirational goal of humanity since prehistory. The themes of resurrection, youthful preservation and outright immortality are common tropes throughout our collective imagination — notions that have founded religions, instigated wars, and launched billion dollar beauty and skin care empires. If a society’s elites weren’t mummifying themselves ahead of a glorious afterlife, bits and pieces of their bodies and possessions were collected and revered as holy relics, cultural artifacts to be cherished and treasured as a physical connection to the great figures and deeds of yore.</p><p>Technological advances since the Middle Ages have, thankfully, by and large eliminated the need to carry desiccated bits of your heroes in a coat pocket. Today, fans can connect with their favorite celebrities — whether still alive or long-since passed — through the star’s available catalog of work. For example, you can watch Robin Williams’ movies, stand up specials,
Mork and Mindy, and read his books arguably more easily now than when he was alive. Nobody’s toting scraps of hallowed rainbow suspender when they can rent
Jumanji from YouTube on their phone for $2.99. It’s equally true for William Shakespeare, whose collected works you can read on a Kindle as you wait in line at the DMV.</p><p>At this point, it doesn’t really matter how long a beloved celebrity has been gone — so long as sufficiently large archives of their work remain, digital avatars can be constructed in their stead using today’s projection technologies, generative AI systems, and deepfake audio/video. Take the recent fad of deceased singers and entertainers “going back out on tour” as holographic projections of themselves for example.</p><p>The projection systems <a data-i13n="cpos:11;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/2019-05-10-celebrity-holograms-sketch-me-out.html">developed by BASE Hologram and the now-defunct HologramUSA[/url], which made headlines in the middle of the last decade for their spectral representations of famously deceased celebrities, used a well-known projection effect known as <a data-i13n="cpos:12;pos:1" href="
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepper%27s_ghost">Pepper’s Ghost[/url]. Developed in the early 19th century by British inventor John Henry Pepper, the image of an off-stage performer is reflected onto a transparent sheet of glass interposed between the stage and audience to produce a translucent, ethereal effect ideal for depicting the untethered spirits that routinely haunted theatrical protagonists at the time.</p><p>Turns out, the technique works just as well with high-definition video feeds and LED light sources as it did with people wiggling in bedsheets by candlelight. The modern equivalent is called the "Musion Eyeliner" and rather than a transparent sheet of glass, it uses a thin metalized film set at a 45 degree angle towards the audience. It’s how the Gorillaz played “live” at the 2006 Grammy Awards and how Tupac posthumously performed at Coachella in 2012, but the technology is limited by the size of the transparent sheet. If we’re ever going to get <a data-i13n="cpos:13;pos:1;elm:affiliate_link;sellerN:YouTube;elmt:;" href="
https://shopping.yahoo.com/rdlw?merchantId=89f68c82-f255-44fa-8db9-03fec996b93a&siteId=us-engadget&pageId=1p-autolink&featureId=text-link&merchantName=YouTube&custData=eyJzb3VyY2VOYW1lIjoiV2ViLURlc2t0b3AtVmVyaXpvbiIsInN0b3JlSWQiOiI4OWY2OGM4Mi1mMjU1LTQ0ZmEtOGRiOS0wM2ZlYzk5NmI5M2EiLCJsYW5kaW5nVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cueW91dHViZS5jb20vd2F0Y2g_dj1kNjh5UklFOU92USIsImNvbnRlbnRVdWlkIjoiZDc1ZWU0ZmQtOGZhYy00MzIzLTliYTctNThjMTRmYzA1ZDFlIn0&signature=AQAAAdo8y9QyG452Lt5bPDlawKxjxjFxWdNoawpOT0UJIVno&gcReferrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dd68yRIE9OvQ">the
Jaws 19 signage
Back to the Future II promised us[/url], we’re likely going to use arrays of fan projectors like those developed by London-based holographic startup, <a data-i13n="cpos:14;pos:1" href="
https://hypervsn.com/">Hypervsn[/url], to do so.</p><p>“Holographic fans are types of displays that produce a 3-dimensional image seemingly floating in the air using the principle of POV (Persistence of Vision), using strips of RGB LEDs attached to the blades of the fan and a control-unit lighting up the pixels,” <a data-i13n="cpos:15;pos:1;elm:affiliate_link;sellerN:LinkedIn;elmt:;" href="
https://shopping.yahoo.com/rdlw?merchantId=6deefbf2-941b-4156-9f41-a61ebb50d13d&siteId=us-engadget&pageId=1p-autolink&featureId=text-link&merchantName=LinkedIn&custData=eyJzb3VyY2VOYW1lIjoiV2ViLURlc2t0b3AtVmVyaXpvbiIsInN0b3JlSWQiOiI2ZGVlZmJmMi05NDFiLTQxNTYtOWY0MS1hNjFlYmI1MGQxM2QiLCJsYW5kaW5nVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubGlua2VkaW4uY29tL2luL2RyLXByaXlhLWMvP3Ryaz1wdWJsaWNfcHJvZmlsZV9icm93c2VtYXAmb3JpZ2luYWxTdWJkb21haW49aW4iLCJjb250ZW50VXVpZCI6ImQ3NWVlNGZkLThmYWMtNDMyMy05YmE3LTU4YzE0ZmMwNWQxZSJ9&signature=AQAAAb1iJnsbTVYnlU-Hm53RqbX-mASzEwCxe1br51WrYvKU&gcReferrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fdr-priya-c%2F%3Ftrk%3Dpublic_profile_browsemap%26originalSubdomain%3Din">Dr Priya C[/url], Associate Professor at Sri Sairam Engineering College, and team <a data-i13n="cpos:16;pos:1" href="
https://www.ilkogretim-online.org/fulltext/218-1641671204.pdf">wrote in a 2020 study on the technology[/url]. “As the fan rotates, the display produces a full picture.”</p><p>Dr Priya C goes on to say “Generally complex data can be interpreted more effectively when displayed in three dimensions. In the information display industry, three dimensional (3D) imaging, display, and visualization are therefore considered to be one of the key technology developments that will enter our daily life in the near future.”</p><p>“From a technical standpoint, the size [of a display] is just a matter of how many devices you are using and how you actually combine them,” Hypervsn Lead Product Manager, Anastasia Sheluto, told Engadget. “The biggest wall we have ever considered was around 400 devices, that was actually a facade of one building. A wall of 12 or 15 [projectors] will get you up to 4k resolution.” While the fan arrays need to be enclosed to protect them from the elements and the rest of us from getting whacked by a piece of plastic revolving at a few thousand RPMs, these displays are already finding use in museums and malls, trade shows and industry showcases.</p><div id="bfa4091fada04f41b9df881accc8243b"><iframe src="
https://www.youtube.com/embed/zdfKDrAZGxo?rel=0&start=1" style="top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;position:absolute;border:0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no"></iframe></div><p>What’s more, these projector systems are rapidly gaining streaming capabilities, allowing them to project live interactions rather than merely pre-recorded messages. Finally, Steven Van Zandt’s avatar in <a data-i13n="cpos:17;pos:1;elm:affiliate_link;sellerN:Vimeo;elmt:;" href="
https://shopping.yahoo.com/rdlw?merchantId=7d99dc20-7530-4df8-98e2-2f910e52ec89&siteId=us-engadget&pageId=1p-autolink&featureId=text-link&merchantName=Vimeo&custData=eyJzb3VyY2VOYW1lIjoiV2ViLURlc2t0b3AtVmVyaXpvbiIsInN0b3JlSWQiOiI3ZDk5ZGMyMC03NTMwLTRkZjgtOThlMi0yZjkxMGU1MmVjODkiLCJsYW5kaW5nVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly92aW1lby5jb20vMzI5MzUwMTQ1IiwiY29udGVudFV1aWQiOiJkNzVlZTRmZC04ZmFjLTQzMjMtOWJhNy01OGMxNGZjMDVkMWUifQ&signature=AQAAAYZbffEko2W1XvNeZwhRJ6nFMHppxe0z1WObAJT5hK-W&gcReferrer=https%3A%2F%2Fvimeo.com%2F329350145">the ARHT Media Holographic Cube at Newark International[/url] will do more than stare like he’s not mad, just disappointed, and <a data-i13n="cpos:18;pos:1;elm:affiliate_link;sellerN:YouTube;elmt:;" href="
https://shopping.yahoo.com/rdlw?merchantId=89f68c82-f255-44fa-8db9-03fec996b93a&siteId=us-engadget&pageId=1p-autolink&featureId=text-link&merchantName=YouTube&custData=eyJzb3VyY2VOYW1lIjoiV2ViLURlc2t0b3AtVmVyaXpvbiIsInN0b3JlSWQiOiI4OWY2OGM4Mi1mMjU1LTQ0ZmEtOGRiOS0wM2ZlYzk5NmI5M2EiLCJsYW5kaW5nVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cueW91dHViZS5jb20vd2F0Y2g_dj1fQy1iQ0ZQSmFFcyIsImNvbnRlbnRVdWlkIjoiZDc1ZWU0ZmQtOGZhYy00MzIzLTliYTctNThjMTRmYzA1ZDFlIn0&signature=AQAAATksoroq5-aecLuDEoyEqfcdpbkbAgjDxbPO7B8fdwfK&gcReferrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D_C-bCFPJaEs">the digital TSA assistants of tomorrow[/url] may do more than repeat rote instructions for passing travelers as the human ones do today.</p><p>Getting Avatar Van Zandt to sound like the man it’s based on is no longer much of a difficult feat either. Advances in the field of deepfake audio, more formally known as speech synthesis, and text-to-speech AI, such as <a data-i13n="cpos:19;pos:1;elm:affiliate_link;sellerN:Amazon Web Services;elmt:;" href="
https://shopping.yahoo.com/rdlw?merchantId=0b3db6ab-15b8-465d-9a5c-0905bb162064&siteId=us-engadget&pageId=1p-autolink&featureId=text-link&merchantName=Amazon+Web+Services&custData=eyJzb3VyY2VOYW1lIjoiV2ViLURlc2t0b3AtVmVyaXpvbiIsInN0b3JlSWQiOiIwYjNkYjZhYi0xNWI4LTQ2NWQtOWE1Yy0wOTA1YmIxNjIwNjQiLCJsYW5kaW5nVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9hd3MuYW1hem9uLmNvbS9wb2xseS8iLCJjb250ZW50VXVpZCI6ImQ3NWVlNGZkLThmYWMtNDMyMy05YmE3LTU4YzE0ZmMwNWQxZSJ9&signature=AQAAAVvziLwaTjrKHvwxrmBSi8Y7UFzoWuyrfnC9mH4msToa&gcReferrer=https%3A%2F%2Faws.amazon.com%2Fpolly%2F">Amazon Polly[/url] or Speech Services by Google, have led to a commercialization of synthesized celebrity voice overs.</p><p>Where once a choice between Morgan Freeman and Darth Vader reading our TomTom directions was considered bleeding-edge cool, today, companies like Speechify offer voice models from Snoop Dogg, Gwyneth Paltrow, and other celebs who (or whose estates) have licensed their voice models for use. Even recording artists who haven’t given express permission for their voices to be used <a data-i13n="cpos:20;pos:1" href="
https://twitter.com/FLOCRAVE/status/1640020711413633028">are finding deep fakes of their work[/url] popping up across the internet.</p><p>In Speechify’s case at least, “our celebrity voices are strictly limited to personal consumption and exclusively part of our non-commercial text-to-speech (TTS) reader,” Tyler Weitzman, <a data-i13n="cpos:21;pos:1" href="
https://speechify.com/">Speechify[/url] Co-Founder and Head of AI, told Engadget via email. “They're not part of our <a data-i13n="cpos:22;pos:1" href="
https://speechify.com/voiceover-studio/?landing_url=https%3A%2F%2Fspeechify.com%2Fblog%2Fdeepfake-voice%2F">Voice Over Studio[/url]. If a customer wants to turn their own voice into a synthetic AI voice for their own use, we're open to conversations.”</p><p>“Text-to-speech is one of the most important technologies in the world to advance humanity,” Weitzman continued. to the space],” she continued. “There's something intangible, almost magical about experiencing that work of art in person versus seeing a print of it on a poster or on a museum tote bag or, you know, coffee mug that it loses some of its kind of ineffable quality.”</p>This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/immortal-hologram-celebrities-chatgpt-ai-deep-fake-back-catalogs-180030493.html?src=rss
Source:
We can build immortal celebrities from ChatGPT and their existing back catalogs
