VW Brazil Elis Regina deepfake advert

An advert celebrating VW's 70th year operating in Brazil by simulating renown Brazilian singer Elis Regina, who died in 1982 at the age of 36, sparked questions about the ethics of using AI to simulate the image and likeness of a dead person. The advert, which reputedly took over 2,400 hours to produce, saw an actress and deepfake technology make it appear as if Regina was performing her 1976 hit Como Nossos Pais in a duet with her daughter Maria Rita while driving a VW van. Many Brazilians commented that the ad was nostalgic and moving. However, Brazilian advertising regulator watchdog Conar announced it would investigate a possible breach of ethics after receiving complaints questioning whether it was right to use such methods 'to bring a deceased person back to life' without their consent. Conar also raised concerns about whether synthetic media may cause some people, notably children and teenagers, to confuse fiction with reality. Others pointed out Regina's vocal opposition to t he military dictatorship that governed Brazil from 1964 to 1985, and the latter's closeness to VW. Deepfake Deepfakes (a portmanteau of ' deep learning ' and 'fake') are images, videos, or audio which are edited or generated using artificial intelligence tools, and which may depict real or non-existent people. They are a type of synthetic media. Source: Wikipedia 🔗 System 🤖 Unknown Documents 📃 VW Brasil. 70 anos advert Operator: Volkswagen Developer: AlmapBBDO Country: Brazil Sector: Business/professional services Purpose: Recreate singer Technology: Deepfake - video, audio; Machine learning Issue: Impersonation

Date it happened

2023-08-01

Organisation involved

VW Brazil

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