Unchecked A.I.’s reign of terror continues with one woman taking to TikTok to share the story of how her likeness was used to advertise an erectile dysfunction medication without her knowledge or consent.


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Michel Janse is a YouTuber, meaning there are countless videos of her available for free on the internet that can be used to train A.I. models. Obviously this is ethically dubious, but it becomes even more so — not to mention legally dubious — when the results are then used in advertising to mislead viewers into thinking their fave YouTuber has endorsed a product they haven’t.


Janse explains that while the whole thing is creepy, the thing that felt the “most violating” was that to create the deepfake, they pulled footage from “by far the most vulnerable video I had ever posted on my channel” where she was sharing some of her traumatic past with viewers.


She goes on to share a short clip of the deepfake, and shares her concerns about what this technology could mean, telling viewers, “We are now entering this era of living our lives online where we need to question everything we see, because someone that you know could be in a video saying something to you, looks exactly like them, and it could be completely fabricated.”


As A.I. technology has rapidly developed and improved, the number of ways it can be used to target or demean women have only increased. Take the tools that went viral late last year that allowed users to undress any woman using A.I., essentially creating nudes of them without their consent, including images of high schoolers who are now mobilizing in favor of legislation that will make such uses of A.I. illegal.



Someone over on Reddit shared a side-by-side comparison of the deepfake with Janse’s original video, and the resemblance is uncanny; moreover, if someone weren’t at all familiar with Janse, they would have no reason to doubt the authenticity of the video, interpreting it as a genuine endorsement of the product from some random woman.



Many commenters are hoping Janse will try to make an example of the company and sue them. In a follow-up video, she responded to one such comment that she would love to seek legal advice, but isn’t sure if she has the money to do so. Fortunately, there was at least one lawyer who specializes in social media and data privacy offering her help in the comments, so fingers crossed Janse is able to take this further and potentially set a legal precedent about the misuse of A.I. technology in advertising.