‘Deepfake’ Tom Cruise Is Going Viral On TikTok And Sparks Huge Concern



Millions of people have watched Tom Cruise kick some a** on the big screen. Have you ever imagined Cruise doing magic tricks? Actor Tom Cruise recently left his fans stunned after a series of clips emerged on TikTok and Instagram. The three clips had Cruise playing golf, doing magic tricks, and embarrassingly failing on the floor. It’s been viewed over 11 million times and still counting on the platform.

Clips of fake Tom Cruise playing golf, doing magic tricks, and embarrassingly failing on the floor has raised concern about the deepfake technology.

deeptomcruise/Instagram/TikTok -Via

But it turned out, someone is using Deepfake technology to impersonate the actor, and as seen, the results are so realistic that you may mistakenly believe it’s the famed actor. The lifelike technology has since the clip went viral raised concern, and experts have warned that such content should worry everyone.

Someone used Deepfake technology to impersonate the actor, and as seen, the results are so realistic.

The first clip, which has amassed over 900K likes, saw Cruise asking those at home if they’re cool with him playing some sports. While some might be justifiably uncomfortable watching actor Cruise throw on a sun hat and practice his golf swing, the comment section was downright filling out.

Cruise in one of clip throw on a sun hat and practice his golf swing.

deeptomcruise/Instagram/TikTok -Via

In a second clip posted with the name @deeptomcruse, the impersonator rocked a festive Hawaiian shirt while kneeling in front of the camera. He showed fans some magic –making a coin disappear while pledging it’s all the real thing.

In a second clip, fake Cruise made a coin disappear while pledging it’s all the real thing.

deeptomcruise/Instagram/TikTok -Via

The other clip equally showed Cruise walking through a clothing store where he trips, rolls over, and jumps back on his feet to tell the TikTok universe a joke about the time he met with former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev.

He rocked a festive Hawaiian shirt while kneeling in front of the camera.

deeptomcruise/Instagram/TikTok -Via

However, the realistic Deepfake clips of Tom Cruise might have been giving the world a laugh-out-loud, but the technology is sparking fears among experts. Program Director of Witness org, Sam Gregory, took to Twitter to share his concerns about Cruise deepfakes.

The other clip showed Cruise walking through a clothing store where he trips, rolls over, and jumps back on his feet

Since the clip went viral, experts have warned that such content should worry everyone

deeptomcruise/Instagram/TikTok -Via

‘Women are already being targeted by deep fakes. Seeing is no longer believing rhetoric undermines real videos.’ Gregory said. Expert Henry Ajder also spoke of his concern in an interview with Times of London. ‘This technology isn’t going away; there’s a huge amount of negative and malicious use cases.’ He claimed.

Nonetheless, Deepfakes were launched in 2014 by Ian Goodfellow, the then director of machine learning at Apple’s Special Projects Group. The invention studies a target person in pictures and videos.

In turn, it captures multiple angles and mimics a person’s speech and behavior patterns. Specifically, it gained attention during the election season as many people feared developers would use it to undermine political candidates’ reputations.