The Imitation Game takes extreme forms in the realistic simulation of real people made with AI technologies applied to video production, such as Hygen, Sora, Veo, Runway, and others. Such simulations could only be carried out procedurally with laborious productions based on three-dimensional technologies used for cinematic special effects, which required 3D modeling of a man’s face and body, and animated him by reproducing his specific movements using motion capture technology. This is a complex technology, requiring extremely sophisticated skills, and is unlikely to achieve such perfect results that it cannot be captured as a simulation. Current technologies for generating video by artificial intelligence use completely different procedures, based not on 3D but on training models on large amounts of video footage. And they are easily used by everyone through a simple prompt.
We are facing a resounding technological acceleration that is knocking out previous film solutions, and challenging the fiction supply chain by producing credible virtual actors. A threat so serious as to lead to a protracted strike by Hollywood actors. But in the meantime we are seeing films with actors rejuvenated, brought back to life and aged by AI. Technological ‘evolution in the imitation of real people continues to produce results that are more and more astounding, and moreover within the reach of anyone, including the malicious. Synthetic characters who perform non-real actions are now proliferating online, creating scenes that can be mistaken for real.
These phenomena can lead to forms of transgression, in many cases legally actionable, consists of violation of the person’s privacy and image, and goes as far as constructing pornographic scenes with the faces of celebrities or teenagers. The first example of realistic imitation with AI of a person in Italian television was the provocative interview with John Fitzgerald Kennedy made with artificial intelligence by Carraro LAB for SKY TG 24.
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