New York
CNN
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The Mona Lisa can now do greater than smile, due to new synthetic intelligence expertise from Microsoft.
Final week, Microsoft researchers detailed a brand new AI mannequin they’ve developed that may take a nonetheless picture of a face and an audio clip of somebody talking and routinely create a practical trying video of that particular person talking. The movies — which might be created from photorealistic faces, in addition to cartoons or paintings — are full with compelling lip syncing and pure face and head actions.
In a single demo video, researchers confirmed how they animated the Mona Lisa to recite a comedic rap by actor Anne Hathaway.
Outputs from the AI mannequin, known as VASA-1, are each entertaining and a bit jarring of their realness. Microsoft mentioned the expertise may very well be used for schooling or “enhancing accessibility for people with communication challenges,” or doubtlessly to create digital companions for people. Nevertheless it’s additionally straightforward to see how the software may very well be abused and used to impersonate actual folks.
It’s a priority that goes past Microsoft: as extra instruments to create convincing AI-generated pictures, movies and audio emerge, experts worry that their misuse may result in new types of misinformation. Some additionally fear the expertise may additional disrupt inventive industries from movie to promoting.
For now, Microsoft mentioned it doesn’t plan to launch the VASA-1 mannequin to the general public instantly. The transfer is much like how Microsoft associate OpenAI is dealing with considerations round its AI-generated video tool, Sora: OpenAI teased Sora in February, however has to date solely made it out there to some skilled customers and cybersecurity professors for testing functions.
“We’re against any habits to create deceptive or dangerous contents of actual individuals,” Microsoft researchers mentioned in a weblog submit. However, they added, the corporate has “no plans to launch” the product publicly “till we’re sure that the expertise will probably be used responsibly and in accordance with correct rules.”
Microsoft’s new AI mannequin was educated on quite a few movies of individuals’s faces whereas talking, and it’s designed to acknowledge pure face and head actions, together with “lip movement, (non-lip) expression, eye gaze and blinking, amongst others,” researchers mentioned. The result’s a extra lifelike video when VASA-1 animates a nonetheless picture.
For instance, in a single demo video set to a clip of somebody sounding agitated, apparently whereas taking part in video video games, the face talking has furrowed brows and pursed lips.
The AI software can be directed to provide a video the place the topic is trying in a sure route or expressing a particular emotion.
When trying intently, there are nonetheless indicators that the movies are machine-generated, equivalent to rare blinking and exaggerated eyebrow actions. However Microsoft mentioned it believes its mannequin “considerably outperforms” different, related instruments and “paves the best way for real-time engagements with lifelike avatars that emulate human conversational behaviors.”