Filmmaker Deepfakes Sam Altman – and Gets Attached
▼ Summary
– Director Adam Bhala Lough pivoted to creating a deepfake of Sam Altman after failing to secure an interview with the OpenAI CEO for his documentary.
– The documentary, titled *Deepfaking Sam Altman*, explores how AI is reshaping society and was inspired in part by the Scarlett Johansson voice controversy.
– Lough traveled to India to create a full deepfake of Altman called Sam Bot, which ultimately evolved into its own entity within the film’s narrative.
– The film draws parallels to *Terminator 2* and is partially based on a story casting Altman as a modern-day Oppenheimer.
– It features commentary from a former OpenAI safety engineer expressing fear about the potential military use of inaccurate AI systems like Dall-E and ChatGPT.
When a filmmaker’s repeated attempts to secure an interview with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman hit a wall, he turned to the very technology Altman champions, creating a deepfake avatar that would ultimately reshape his entire documentary. This unexpected pivot forms the core of Adam Bhala Lough’s new film, Deepfaking Sam Altman, a project that evolved from a straightforward portrait into a meta-commentary on artificial intelligence’s profound societal impact. The director’s journey, marked by gate-crashing attempts and creative desperation, mirrors the unpredictable and often unsettling path of AI development itself.
After roughly one hundred days of unanswered texts and emails to Altman, with financial backers growing impatient, Lough felt he had run out of options. He briefly attempted to infiltrate OpenAI’s headquarters, a tactic he had used before, but was swiftly removed by security. This failure forced a radical rethink. Inspiration struck during the Scarlett Johansson voice controversy, when the actress accused OpenAI of mimicking her voice for its Sky assistant. Lough decided that if he could not interview the real Sam Altman, he would create a digital version.
What began as a simple voice clone rapidly expanded into a comprehensive deepfake persona dubbed “Sam Bot.” Lough traveled to India to have the avatar developed, but as with many ambitious projects, complications arose. Without revealing the film’s twists, the Sam Bot entity gradually assumed a life of its own, leading the documentary into bizarre and revealing territory. Lough draws a cinematic parallel, noting his film shares thematic DNA with Terminator 2: Judgment Day, a movie that deeply influenced him, though thankfully without the robotic violence.
The documentary, partly inspired by portrayals of Altman as a modern-day Oppenheimer, incorporates critical perspectives on AI’s trajectory. Former OpenAI safety engineer Heidy Khlaaf provides a stark warning, expressing deep concern over the company’s exploration of military applications for tools like DALL-E and ChatGPT. She highlights the inherent risks of deploying systems known for inaccuracy in such high-stakes scenarios, a sentiment that underscores the film’s urgent inquiry into the ethics of unchecked technological advancement.
(Source: Wired)
