Deep Fake Neighbour Wars is a show that’ll launch you into the uncanny valley as it documents the fictional neighbourly conflicts of your fave celebs, and I am cackling at this star’s reaction to her face being used on the show.
Deep Fake Neighbour Wars aired on ITV in the UK earlier this year, and a lot of celeb fans were slightly confused. You see, the mockumentary series uses AI deepfake technology, which is “a form of artificial intelligence called deep learning to make images of fake events”, per The Guardian.
In this show, celebrity deepfakes, including Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Priyanka Chopra and many more, were used to create stories about neighbourly disputes.
One star who is featured on the show, Nicki Minaj, recently called out Deep Fake Neighbour Wars via Twitter, calling it an “AI shapeshifting cloning conspiracy theory”. The Tweet was attached to a video from the mockumentary series that depicted a faux relationship between her and Tom Holland.
“I hope the whole internet get [sic] deleted,” she wrote.
And being the ‘yuge Barb (AKA Nicki Minaj stan) that I am, I was laughing at her reaction to the cooked deepfake. However, some folks expressed their concern. Many of them questioned if this was legal.
people can legally take your face for a gag video?! what has this world come to….
— 𝗣𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗣𝗨𝗦𝗦𝗬 𝗕𝗔𝗥𝗕🫦 (@PHATPUSSYBARB) July 9, 2023
This is some scury shit pic.twitter.com/TLKfqgWMXx
— TJ⭐️ (@BUY_MYH) July 9, 2023
The faux relationship is also a silly inside joke within the Barbz, with their couple’s name being known as “TomNicki”.
And before we get flooded with the good old “this show was aired ages ago” comments, it seems like the rapper only caught wind of the mockumentary series recently.
Minaj isn’t the only celebrity who has spoken about her face being used on the show.
Earlier this year, Idris Elba was asked about the show in an interview with The Hook.
The actor revealed that he was emailed about the mockumentary by Adele‘s management and that he thought the deepfakes were a joke.
“I didn’t realise it was a whole TV show. And Adele’s team weren’t too pleased about it. We weren’t too pleased about it because they didn’t ask our permission or anything and the next thing you know, it’s on TV,” Elba said.
Elba also mentioned that he came from an era of parodies and caricature, but the deepfakes were just “creepy”.
In early June, TV Blackbox reported that SBS On Demand would be airing the bizarre show.
Speaking to news.com.au, an SBS spokesperson said: “SBS acquired Deep Fake Neighbour Wars from ITVX in the UK where it was first shown earlier this year. The fictional comedy series uses deepfake technology in this way for the first time, and it’s clear that audiences are finding it as bizarre as we do.”
As much as I love to divulge myself in silly ships like TomNicki, there’s just something about deepfakes that scare me.
It honestly feels like we’re living in a ‘yuge Black Mirror episode.
Image: SBS On Demand / Deep Fake Neighbour Wars
