Yay deepfakes (boo, actually)

TikTok is enabling the use of deepfakes.

Brands will be able to buy ads featuring AI imitations of generic people, OR OF SPECIFIC CREATORS.

It’s happening, folks.

They claim it’s to accelerate content production and help brands access different language bases more easily. Which deepfakes totally do, no debate there, but once the floodgates open, they will be hard to close.

We don’t know if you’ve seen deepfakes recently but they’re near indistinguishable from reality, especially to the scrolling eye.

We’re entering a world where the only thing stopping us from putting unapproved words in someone’s mouth are platform policies and regulations.

But enough doomsday talk. There are some fixes in the works.

ByteDance (do we have to keep saying they’re TikTok’s parent company?) are banning the use of any synthetic media that contains the likeness of any real private figure, i.e. you. They’re also banning anything that mimics a public figure endorsing a product or violating other policies like hate speech.

Solid fundamentals.

Next, they’ll require any deepfake content to be labeled as such. Problem solved? For the general public and people whose likeness may be used, kind of.

For advertisers, not exactly.

Let’s talk about the entire purpose of user generated content (UGC) for a second, A.K.A. influencer and creator marketing.

This content type is now a fundamental pillar in DTC marketing. According to Goldman Sachs, the so-called creator economy and its total addressable market could double from $250 million to half a trillion by 2027.

The reason it works is because it’s a product endorsement from a third party (i.e. not from the brand), which feels genuine. We go deeper into the topic in our Issue #11: Keeping it real.

Do you see the problem?

If you flood the market with fake people mouthing fake reviews and testimonials, it will undermine the value of UGC. If consumers can't tell the difference between real people recommending stuff and fake people recommending stuff, they will tune it out.

Sure, it’s easier for DTC operators or marketers to create and disseminate, but that's what would make it less valuable. UGC/testimonials/social proof is not supposed to be effortless.

It would be like painting a bunch of rocks with gold paint during a gold rush.

Is there anything you can do about it? Not really, aside from hope that authentic content will become that much more valuable. As long as we can tell it from the deepfakes.

Takeaway: The “U” in UGC is “User”. If a user isn’t making it, it’s not UGC. It may look and feel like it, but eventually, the audience will catch on and tune it out.

One of the great paradoxes of marketing is that a rush to leverage a given tactic can eventually cause cynicism or exhaustion in the audience, especially when it is perceived as inauthentic. As in all things, you should try, test, and analyze, so we’re not saying “don’t do this”.

Just a note that a tidal wave of fake “UGC” could lead to a complete devaluing of it.