Deepfake or doppelgnger? The debate has engulfed the Internet after a video of a Chinese man resembling Tesla CEO Elon Musk went viral. In the clip, “Chinese Elon Musk” stands next to a car and mimics the Tesla and SpaceX boss. The video was first shared on TikTok in the form of the New York Post and garnered massive reactions on Facebook.
While some posted GIF reactions in awe of the celeb twin called “Yi Long Musk,” others weren’t so convinced it was real, the New York Post said.
A group of users are convinced it is a deepfake – a digitally altered video in which the face of a public figure is placed over a mere mortal, it added.
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Since the man has yet to be identified, there is no way to confirm whether it is a deepfake or that someone who actually looks like Musk is real.
Deepfake is a technique that consists of synthetic media in which the person in an existing image or video is replaced by someone else’s likeness. In recent times, the technology has been used in celebrity porn videos, revenge porn, fake news, fraud, financial fraud and even political campaigns.
In addition to Musk, many notable celebrities including Tom Cruise, Scarlett Johansson, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Brad Pitt also fell victim to the technique.
Earlier this year, a viral deepfake of Tom Cruise under the username @deeptomcruise was dismissed by TikTok users. The New York Post reported that a Cardi B lookalike, called Cardi C, caused a viral frenzy in August, when New York hairstylist Claudeland posted a video of a client named Ashley showing off a new wig.
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