DeepTomCruise TikTok deepfakes

The Daily Beast reports on a TikTok account in the name of @deeptomcruise that is posting deepfake video clips of actor Tom Cruise golfing, telling jokes about former USSR president Mikhail Gorbachev, and doing magic tricks.

A few minor clues indicate the fake nature of the clips; however, many viewers appear unable to tell whether they are real or otherwise, and commentators focus on the increasing realism of deepfake technologies and their power to manipulate and deceive unsuspecting consumers.

Using the Cruise fake videos, a 2022 study by University of Oxford, Brown University and Royal Society researchers found that most people cannot tell they are watching a 'deepfake' video even if they have been told what they are watching may have been digitally altered. 

As of January 2022, the @deeptomcruise account counts 3.3 milion followers.