As artificial intelligence-powered deepfakes grow more prevalent, some are more at risk than others. The public figure who has the biggest target on their back? Former president Donald Trump, who has, for what it’s worth, has shared AI-generated images of himself on social media.
Findings from NetVoucherCodes, a voucher codes and deals website based in the United Kingdom, pulled a list of the most-followed people on Instagram and X, formerly known as Twitter, then scoured Midjourney’s Discord server to see how many times each name had been used. NetVoucherCodes doesn’t disclose over precisely what period it gathered its data.
While this isn’t an exhaustive list of public figures targeted by AI deepfakes, nor can this methodology definitively answer the multifaceted question of who is the most at risk, it does offer some insight into who ranks highly as a target for users trying to create AI images.
The top 15 figures, according to NetVoucherCodes, are as follows:
1. Donald Trump — 241,975
2. Ana de Armas — 127,081
3. Elon Musk — 115,707
4. Joe Biden — 98,953
5. Sydney Sweeney — 73,116
6. Taylor Swift — 58,602
7. Kanye West — 58,474
8. Scarlett Johansson — 55,383
9. Gal Gadot — 54,195
10. Margot Robbie — 46,222
11. Snoop Dogg — 45,579
12. Megan Fox — 39,593
13. Gigi Hadid — 38,640
14. Kate Upton — 37,573
15. Britney Spears — 35,211
Beyond the look at the who’s who of Midjourney requests, the results reveal a possible bolster for one of Midjourney’s recent decisions. Trump and President Joe Biden sit in the first and fourth spots on the list, respectively. However, both figures are barred from the AI image generator due likely to the possibility of misinformation leading into this year’s U.S. presidential election.
Given the high number of requests made to Midjourney for the two biggest competitors for the election, Midjourney’s (and others’) block might be for the best.
Deepfake-fueled hoaxes involving Trump and Biden have proliferated across social media, as have fake posts involving celebrities. Sometimes, this takes the form of scams or jokes, but other examples include non-consensual explicit deepfake images.
“The rest of the list reflects a worrying trend. Ten out of the top fifteen most AI-generated celebrities feature women, usually those who are considered attractive by the wider internet,” NetVoucherCodes points out. “Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney is in fifth place, Taylor Swift in sixth and Black Widow actress Scarlett Johansson in eighth.”
“Exploring the kinds of keywords that are used when creating AI imagery, the term ‘woman’ has been used 10,372,251 times, 26 percent more than the term ‘man’ which has been used 7,697,528 times on the platform,” the release from NetVoucherCodes continues. “Similarly, ‘girl’ has been used 7,111,394 times in AI prompts, 268 percent more than the term ‘boy’ which is used just 1,929,040 times.”
Image credits: Header photos licensed via Depositphotos.