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Doublicat, the "deepfake" application that makes you step into the shoes of your favorite star

2020-07-21T21:35:31.999Z


The Ukrainian app is currently the fifth most downloaded from the Play Store in France.Shakira, Justin Bieber or even Vin Diesel. Thanks to the Doublicat application, smartphone owners can now swap their faces with that of their favorite star and appear in their most famous clips. A feat made possible by deepfake technology, which uses artificial intelligence to create doctored videos. While the process of creating deepfakes is usually long and tedious, Doublicat stands out for bein...


Shakira, Justin Bieber or even Vin Diesel. Thanks to the Doublicat application, smartphone owners can now swap their faces with that of their favorite star and appear in their most famous clips. A feat made possible by deepfake technology, which uses artificial intelligence to create doctored videos. While the process of creating deepfakes is usually long and tedious, Doublicat stands out for being extremely easy to use.

After downloading the application, available on iOS as well as on Android, the user only has to take a photo of himself, then select from the ten possibilities the short video extract in which he wishes to appear. The results, particularly realistic, provoke the joy of Internet users on social networks, and led Doublicat to rank on Sunday, July 19 in 5th place among the most popular applications of the French Play Store.

This is not the first time that the application has caused a sensation. When it was launched last January, it won over users by allowing them to place their faces on famous GIFs, using the same technology. Downloads had quickly declined, until the addition of the new feature "video clip" a few days ago.

Better use of deepfakes

Developed by the Ukrainian company RefaceAI, Doublicat has raised some questions regarding the personal data of users. Other applications of the same kind, like the Chinese Zao, or the Russian FaceApp, had been widely criticized on this subject. Doublicat's terms of use specify that “ generated and downloaded ” content belongs to the user, but can be used to improve its services. In any case, according to the company, the contents are not used for facial recognition purposes, nor sold to third parties.

The Doublicat application is one of the latest innovations showing the evolutions of the use cases for this technology. While an October 2019 study found that 90% of deepfakes are used for pornographic purposes, and some politicians fear they could lead to a proliferation of fake news, some find them quite another use. In addition to the entertaining aspect, currently booming, they can also be used in companies, for internal training videos, or to guarantee the anonymity of someone wishing to testify for one reason or another, while maintaining his facial emotions. Released on HBO a few weeks ago, the documentary Welcome to Chechnya , which deals with the persecution of LGBT people in Chechnya, adopted this technique.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-07-21

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