"I want to marry a Chinese man." "I would be happy to cook, do laundry, and have children for my Chinese husband."
Videos of young blonde Russian women making such statements recently spread on social networking services (SNS), but it turned out they were deepfake videos created using artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
The British magazine The Economist reported on the 9th (local time) that videos featuring young Russian women expressing admiration for China, which appeared on SNS in recent months, were "deepfakes created with AI tools."
The women in the videos, named Natasha, Sofia, and others, were mostly blonde beauties. They complained in fluent Chinese that Russian men are drunkards and lazy, while expressing a longing to marry Chinese men. They also praised Chinese society and technology.
However, these were deepfake videos. Deepfake is a compound word of 'deep learning' and 'fake,' referring to images or videos manipulated with AI to realistically alter faces and other features.
The Economist explained, "These videos are being created through AI," adding, "Using short samples of real videos, it is relatively easy to make deepfakes." It also pointed out that AI tools are becoming increasingly affordable, stating, "With just dubbing and video editing software, any woman can be transformed into a 'Chinese bachelor’s dream.'"
A female victim whose face was used in a deepfake video expressed great shock. Olga Royek, a Ukrainian woman studying in the United States, saw a video of herself speaking Chinese against the backdrop of the Kremlin and said, "It was disgusting and felt like a violation of personal autonomy." She discovered dozens of accounts that had stolen images of her face.
Deepfake videos featuring women recorded hundreds of thousands of views on SNS, and some were used to sell products or praise China, The Economist reported.
The Economist noted, "The former Soviet Union was often called the 'big brother,' and China relied on the Soviet Union for weapons, funds, and political support, but now in many ways the roles have reversed," adding, "Nationalists’ pride in China’s new status is deepening." It viewed that "fake Russian women are attracting their attention," interpreting this as content using foreigners to showcase and promote China’s superiority.
However, these videos have recently been investigated by authorities and are reportedly now difficult to find online. Earlier, Chinese authorities announced regulations mandating that content created using deepfake technology must indicate that deepfake technology was used.
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