Have you ever wished your favorite animated characters could come to life? Well you just might get your wish.
Kind of.
YouTuber demonflyingfox used deepfake technology to bring long-running animated series South Park to sort-of-real-life, turning the cartoon into a live-action sitcom and... well, it's really something.
The deepfakes are so good if you didn't know South Park already you'd think it was just a regular ol' TV show, albeit one populated by people with extremely strange voices. It's either hilarious or full-on nightmare fuel, depending on your vibe.
See the video below and decide for yourself.
All the main characters are there, looking eeever so slightly inhuman, just enough to hit that uncanny valley effect—has anyone ever had skin this smooth, even when they were a baby?
But you'd probably only notice that if you were really looking. Otherwise, the only thing that would tip you off is the voices, like Mr. Mackey's nasal droning about how "drugs are bad, m'kay?" and Eric Cartman's guttural screaming his iconic catchphrase, "screw you guys, I'm going home."
While it's probably the most unsettling, South Park isn't demonflyingfox's first deepfake creation.
He's also made viral reboots of Breaking Bad, the Harry Potter series and Lord of the Rings as if they were conceived and created by legendary fashion house Balenciaga, with instantly viral results.
\u201cI think you should see this\u201d— Phil (@Phil) 1679607821
Making a new live-action deepfake of something that was already live action in the first place—like Harry Potter—is one thing.
Transforming a cartoon is a whole 'nother.
People on Twitter were seriously impressed with the South Park deepfake.
\u201c@artilectium This is fire\u201d— Phil (@Phil) 1679607821
\u201c@artilectium @EMostaque @blisstweeting An episode made with this would be even cooler than the World of Warcraft episode.\u201d— Phil (@Phil) 1679607821
\u201c@artilectium @blisstweeting The blinking is freaking me out\u201d— Phil (@Phil) 1679607821
\u201c@artilectium @blisstweeting I'm DYING.\u201d— Phil (@Phil) 1679607821
\u201c@artilectium @blisstweeting So accurate!\u201d— Phil (@Phil) 1679607821
\u201c@artilectium @blisstweeting I'd watch this \ud83d\udc4c\u201d— Phil (@Phil) 1679607821
\u201cYES. https://t.co/hlambGmjw6\u201d— coney (@coney) 1682203527
But people are loving demonflyingfox's Harry Potter X Balenciaga videos just as much.
\u201c@blisstweeting Watched this multiple times. It made me feel something I can\u2019t categorize\u201d— Phil (@Phil) 1679607821
\u201c@blisstweeting Voldemort with a nose? Lol\u201d— Phil (@Phil) 1679607821
\u201c@blisstweeting I would pay an unethical amount of money to watch a full feature version of this lol\ud83d\ude02\u201d— Phil (@Phil) 1679607821
The AI technologies that allow people like demonflyingfox to make such convincing deepfakes are developing so rapidly Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently said the potential implications "keep me up at night."
At least for now, the tech can make us laugh at a live-action Cartman before the AIs take us over.
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