Artificial intelligence recently made a huge leap in AI video generation, blurring the line between reality and fiction. By turning text into video, Sora 2 can create cinematic scenes with visuals and audio entirely from written prompts. The possibilities are literally endless.
The jump made from Sora 1 to Sora 2 was exponential, as several Sora 1 videos’ only goal was to fulfill the prompt given to them. In the process, the AI would morph objects and deform reality, making Sora 1 lifelike but easy to distinguish from authentic videos. The major difference is that the new model of Sora obeys the laws of physics much more accurately. An additional change is that the audio matches with the cinematic scenes and is very lifelike. With all these features, the app Sora was launched, powered by Sora 2 and cameos were introduced. Now, with this feature, any person can be inserted into a Sora 2 video.
With the creation of Sora 2, the ethical boundaries are widening. The training data it receives stems from millions of videos and OpenAI made the critical mistake of not asking for consent. Users can take video material and styles from their rightful owners without any legal consequences. However, the company is taking steps in the right ethical direction to include watermarks, but that will most likely have a very small impact as it is easy to bypass.
One of the clearest examples of this ethical gray zone is the AI generated actress, Tilly Norwood. She has a social media presence, an IMDb profile, and a growing fanbase. The situation becomes further alarming when several talent agents reached out to Tilly Norwood’s creator, Eline Van der Velden. AI can control the filmmaking industry without little cost and effort. This raises serious concerns about job replacement and the future of filmmaking if the human element of cinematic pieces are being removed.
Tilly Norwood’s rise is just a glimpse of the future of “deepfakes”, AI generated videos making people say or participate in things they never did, being spread all throughout the internet as a result of Sora 2.With Sora 2’s realism, these fakes could soon be impossible to detect. The result is a credibility crisis where nothing can be taken at face value any longer. For example, many deepfakes have been made of the late actor Robin Williams sending messages to his daughter which have pained her mentally and emotionally. Sora 2 can be an abusive weapon that can attack the mental and visual aspects of a human being. In a world where Sora 2 can rewrite truth, believing what we see might be the biggest illusion of all.
