2.8M views · Oct 26, 2020 · 14:42 · 1 HN recommender · 16 mentions · discussed 2020–2026
Full episode of Sassy Justice, a satirical local-news show from the South Park creators starring a deepfaked consumer advocate, Fred Sassy. It uses face-swapped public figures to comment on the dangers of manipulated video.
Why Hacker News points people here: Brought up in every deepfake thread as a funny and technically convincing early example of synthetic media used for satire.
“A hilarious take on deepfakes”HN comment, 2021
“Watch the avantgarde comedy by the creators of South Park”
Avant-garde comedy about deepfakes by South Park creators
Another click bait article. Beware. Facial recognition was banned by SF before in the US. But it’s a technology evolving. And susceptible to manipulation as well. Watch the avantgarde comedy by the creators of South Park: this video
“A hilarious take on deepfakes”
Humorous take on deepfakes
This was known quite a while before and is trivial. We already have it for faces. A hilarious take on deepfakes: this video
“At about 3:18 into the video you can see what appears to be Serafinowicz playing Sassy”
At about 3:18 into the video you can see what appears to be Serafinowicz playing Sassy as the camera moves behind him. Makes sense that faking would be hard from strange oblique angles, so looks like they just skipped it. this video
“I did find quite a few of the Sassy Justice[0] series' examples to be quite convincing from a technical standpoint”
Technically convincing deepfake examples
While it's blatantly obvious from the context and subject matter that they're fake, I did find quite a few of the Sassy Justice[0] series' examples to be quite convincing from a technical standpoint (I imagine they could have been undetectable given more subtle context & subject matter) [0] this video
“Arguably Sassy Justice is worse, Donald Trump is alive”
Interesting we are talking about this now and not when the commercial production "Sassy Justice" came out this video Arguably Sassy Justice is worse, Donald Trump is alive, and I don't think Sassy Justice was an attack, but it wan't flattering either. Sassy Justice was not audio, somewhat clear satire but no warnings. It reminds me when Boko Haram kidnapped the 200 Chibok schoolgirls, they killed and kidnapped 1000's of school boys first. You don't have to like Trump or care about boys but it can come back to bite you. I just hope synthetic media in docos is pointing out to people doco's aren't the truth tellers people think they are. They are entertainment not purveyors of truth.
Not a lawyer but you need likeness rights to reproduce an actor's face. I.e. Peter Cushing's estate gave permission for him to "appear" in Rogue One. But maybe it doesn't apply to parody(?) this video
“South Park creators have jumped on this occasion”
South Park creators' series reporting on deepfakes
South Park creators have jumped on this occasion : "Sassy Justice with Fred Sassy" (reporting on Deep Fakes) : this video
“with even the south park people doing videos using it.”
Example that likeness recreation already exists
> recreating specific individuals’ likenesses in compromising images (or even worse, video). We’re not at that point yet Yes we are. There have been papers coming out on this tech for years now, with even the south park people doing videos using it. this video
“this lampooning hits quite differently now !”
Epidemiology doesn't work without taking into account politics. You can't have go unpunished specialists conspiring (or at best, just unconsciously covering their ass) when they're the ones that are supposed to be on the front lines preventing and fighting epidemics ! P.S.: Wow, I just remembered... this lampooning hits quite differently now ! this video
“Speaking of South Park, the creators did a one-off”
South Park creators' one-off deepfake comedy
Speaking of South Park, the creators did a one-off "deepfake comedy" a couple of years back that's available on Youtube: this video
“Then South Park guys, Trey Parker, doing absolutely hilarious deep fake video.”
Hilarious deepfake video by Trey Parker
Deep fakes certainly hit me wrong. Especially given how easy it is to do to celebrities. It started off with mundane stuff with a great message: link Then South Park guys, Trey Parker, doing absolutely hilarious deep fake video. They make Al Gore and Trump say poop. this video But then basically the same time I saw deep fakes presented as true. Trump saying dumber things than normal. Biden appearing like he has late stage dementia. None of it true. As an outside observer of american politics... pretty damned concerning. But then I read a real statistic. 95% of deep fakes... are to make fake porn. Women who have never done porn now have tons of porn made of them. Worse yet, you can't do anything about it. You dont own the copyright. There is no copyright infringement. You cant sue for royalties because they assert its not you and you never did porn. So the USA/DHS decided they would try to police this. Try to get this all under control. They proceed to put a registered spy in charge of it who only policed 1 side of the aisle. So this technology is destabilizing the USA and heading directly toward... link
“Or making fun of a public personality in some way like in Sassy Justice”
It's not just porn the problem. Fake news or information is a problem too. And this reminds me of the "Joan is awful" episode of Black Mirror as another kind of disturbing activity using deepfakes. Or making fun of a public personality in some way like in Sassy Justice ( this video ). But is complex to draw hard lines in this because asymmetries between public people and not so public ones doing that, or good uses of the technology, freedom concerns and the potential of AI generation. Its not so much the tool, but certain people that misuses it. And stopping the bad uses in a generic way may cause more harm or abuses than not doing it.
Trey Parker and Matt Stone (of South Park fame) made a youtube channel for Sassy Justice at link and this video . And the Queen of England at link
“Reminded me of the South Park guys (et al.) take on Deep Fakes from a few years ago”
Reminded me of the South Park guys (et al.) take on Deep Fakes from a few years ago, especialy the bit with Michael Caine : this video (Of course they used a real fake voice for all of them.)
“I guess they have missed Al Gore's warning from 4 years ago ?”
Yeah, we've had AI (= made with the help of a machine, specifically a computer) NON-deep fakes for several decades now already. I guess the main difference here is indeed that a lot of people are somehow still not aware that it's a possibility ? I guess they have missed Al Gore's warning from 4 years ago ? this video And in this specific case, I'm not sure that the technic used is of any relevance, since again, this kind of /b/tard(-like?) trolling (and counter-trolling) could also have happened without the use of neural network software : this is more about social networks, and Xitter specifically, being the usual cesspools. (The use of fake-Taylor Swift's likeness for ads is IMHO more problematic, but with the same caveats, and also likely easier to police, since there's a money trail for law enforcement to follow.)
“created a nice one that clones faces (but uses celebrity impersonators for voices).”
Parody that clones faces but uses impersonators for voices
Parody for one. Trey Parker and Matt Stone (of South Park) created a nice one that clones faces (but uses celebrity impersonators for voices). link link Full video at this video
