People fooled by viral TikTok of 'AI man' who turns out to be real

People were left not knowing what to think after watching a viral TikTok video of an 'AI man'.

In the video, uploaded by Curt Skelton, he poses the question: "Will artificial intelligence replace the role of visual effects artists?"

But then the ginger lad seemingly reveals that it 'already has', as he fades away and is replaced by a woman, who claims: "Curt Skelton is a fake character I made using multiple AI-powered programmes."

The woman - who was apparently the real Curt all along - then proceeds to explain how she created him.

Watch here:

"His face was created using the first release of DALL-E," she says.

"I played around using different prompts until I created the perfect look. I didn't want to make him look hot because I wanted people to follow him for his jokes and visual effects.

"So it hurt me to do it, but I had to make him look really funny-looking and ugly.

"I rendered out hundreds of these photos and fed them into an AI-powered programme called Convert Skeleton to generate a full 3D model based off these pictures - which is where I got the idea for his name. Honestly, surprised no one caught that."

She continues: "Now all I have to do is record my video, send that clip to DeepMotion.com - which uses AI to motion capture my movements - then apply the animation to the Curt Skelton model.

"For the facial expressions, I used Deepfake Lab, again using those images from the DALL-E renders."

"His voice is the only part that isn't AI," she explains. "Since a programme that I want Respeecher costs too much.

"I just deepened my voice like this and put a tonne of effects and modulation to make it sound like Curt Skelton."

The perplexing and somewhat unsettling video has been viewed 12.7 million times, with thousands of people commenting sharing their take.

One person wrote: "I am having a crisis is she being honest or not?"

Another said: "This is the point where I realise I'm incredibly vulnerable to sophisticated scan artistry."

A third added: "I've never experienced such a rollercoaster of emotions thinking it's real then not then it is then not again."

In case you're still unsure what to believe, it seems Curt is actually real - and has been real for many years.

On his Instagram, there are pictures of him dating back to 2017, so he isn't just a figment of some visual effects artist's imagination.

Rather, he had the idea of convincing the world he was an AI creation - and he did a bloody good job of it.

Featured Image Credit: TikTok/@curt.skelton

Topics: Viral, TikTok, Technology

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey