Simon Cowell Declares Controversial Deepfake Act the 'Best of the Season' on AGTThe America's Got Talent judge was blown away by AI company Metaphysic on season 17 of the show.

ByJonathan Small

NBC

The deepfake公司形而上学继续进行splash on Season 17 ofAmerica's Got Talent.

On last night's semifinals episode, they screened a real-time,AI-generatedperformance of Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, and Terry Crews singing the operatic piece "Nessun Dorma." Three company members stood on the stage while powerfulmachine-learning softwareseamlessly swapped their faces out for the judges' faces.

The performance was so realistic it caused the usually cranky AGT judge Simon Cowell to gush with praise.

"In terms of talent, originality, this is not the best act of the night—this is the best act of the series so far," Cowell said.

Related:The Deepfake Threat is Real. Here Are 3 Ways to Protect Your Business

Metaphysic Wants to Make Deepfakes Mainstream

Metayphysic co-founder, Chris Umé, is no stranger to stunning his audience. In 2021, he released a series of deepfakes of Tom Cruise on the TikTok accountDeepTomCruise.The account features "Cruise" in a series of videos doing wacky things like getting his haircut and leap-frogging over actor Keegan-Michael Key. The videos quickly became a viral sensation.

Now Umé wants to commercialize deepfake technology and make it readily available to anyone in the Metaverse. He hopes his appearance onAmerica's Got Talentwill help build a buzz. "This is a good chance to raise awareness and show off what we can do,"Umé told The Washington Post.

But some critics say that popularizing deepfakes is dangerous. They worry that bad actors can use the technology to spread lies and disinformation.

According to anMIT Technology report, deepfakescan be "a perfect weapon for purveyors of fake news who want to influence everything from stock prices to elections."

The jury is still out on whether it will influence the final vote onAmerica's Got Talent.

Jonathan Small

Entrepreneur Staff

Editor in Chief of Green Entrepreneur

Jonathan Small is editor-in-chief ofGreen Entrepreneur, a vertical from Entrepreneur Media focused on the intersection of sustainability and business. He is also an award-winning journalist, producer, and podcast host of the upcoming True Crime series, Dirty Money, andWrite About Nowpodcasts. Jonathan is the founder ofStrike Fire Productions, a premium podcast production company. He had held editing positions atGlamour,Stuff,Fitness, andTwistMagazines. His stories have appeared inThe New York Times, TV Guide,Cosmo,Details, andGood Housekeeping. Previously, Jonathan served as VP of Content for the GSN (the Game Show Network), where he produced original digital video series.

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