In a single day a reader despatched me a hyperlink to a YouTube video, wherein a seemingly resurrected Sergey Mavrodi smiled awkwardly and assist up an indication.
On first viewing I knew one thing was off in regards to the video however initially I couldn’t determine what.
I felt like I used to be watching a CGI video, however solely as far as the awkward smile and head actions went. The remainder of the video lent itself to being actual.
Then it dawned on me… I used to be watching a Deepfakes video.
For these unfamiliar with Deepfakes, the software program emerged in late 2017 as a comparatively easy approach to superimpose a face onto one other particular person’s physique.
Some intelligent political movies initially emerged however Deepfakes shortly gained notoriety in porn circles.
With a little bit of effort some fairly convincing movies have been created (Donald Trump and Barack Obama have each been focused). Not one of the Deepfakes movies nonetheless, at the least in my view, have but to beat the uncanny valley.
And that is true of the Mavrodi video.
Along with the beforehand acknowledged awkward smile and head actions, different giveaways embody:
- Mavrodi’s glasses not having arms to his ears;
- the fats neck (Mavrodi by no means had a double chin, not even when he was chubby);
- the reddish hair shade of the actor; and
- Mavrodi doesn’t converse within the video (he was by no means one to draw back from the digital camera)
The video was uploaded on October nineteenth to a YouTube account bearing the identify VnukElkina.
The one-line video description in Russian reads (auto-translated);
Sergey Panteleevich Mavrodi shot a video of 2018.
Perusal of the channel reveals a second video, uploaded on October 14th – wherein the actor speaks:
Right here the identical giveaways exist as within the first video. Moreover the voice is clearly off and Mavrodi’s eyebrows don’t transfer.
The chosen class of each movies is “comedy”, so for now Mavrodi’s resurrection seems to be joke.
Hopefully scammers attempting to resurrect MMM International don’t run with it hey…
Replace eleventh January 2021 – As on the time of this replace, each Mavrodi movies referenced on this article have been faraway from the YouTube uploader’s account.