What happened

A deepfake video created by Israeli digital marketers Guy Bar and Ori Bejerano showed Jewish celebrities including Scarlett Johansson, Jerry Seinfeld and Adam Sandler wearing t-shirts sporting an anti-Kanye West message.

Set to an AI remix of "Hava Nagila," the video was made in response to antisemitic comments and the sale of swastika-themed merchandise by West.

The video gained millions of views online, with some viewers finding the message powerful. Others, however, deemed it unethical. 

Scarlett Johansson, whose likeness was used without permission, condemned the video's creation, stating that the misuse of AI poses a greater threat than individual hate speech.

"We must call out the misuse of AI, no matter its messaging, or we risk losing a hold on reality," Johansson stated. She alsoexpressed concern about the potential for AI to amplify hate speech and misleading content.

Why it happened

AI technologies make it easy to create realistic images, videos and other content of other people at low or zero cost for just about any purpose.

The high public profile of celebrities, and the volume of content freely available online featuring them, make them a convenient and east target for misuse.