Someone used AI to create a South Park deepfake and it’s extremely unsettling

Artificial Intelligence has come a long way over the past decade and doesn't seem to be showing any sign of slowing down.

But, like all things, there's always going to be someone who uses it to do something both weird and very impressive.

Like the person who created this South Park deepfake with realistic-looking characters that are a tiny bit unsettling. Watch it here:

Maybe it's the feeling of uncanny valley that it gives us, or perhaps it's just that we never thought we'd see the animated characters look like they could come right out of the screen at us.

But these AI South Park folk are giving us weird vibes.

The video was created by YouTuber demonflyingfox, who shows his followers what's possible through the use of AI.

One Reddit user shared a snippet of the clip with the caption: "Someone used AI to create a South Park deepfake - I love it!"

And many other people seemed to love it too, with the clip receiving praise for how 'spot on' some of the characters were to their animation counterparts.

While the clip is undeniably impressive and absolutely nailed some of the cartoon's main characters, some viewers were a little bit freaked out by it.

YouTube/demonflyingfox

One Reddit user noted: "The blinking is very unsettling for some reason", while another replied: 'Its because it's not natural, you can definitely tell it's not a real person'.

A lot of people seemed to have an issue with the blinking, as one person said: "The blinks are uncanny valley." And another described them as 'creepy' and asked: "why so much blinking."

But it's not the first time that AI has made people feel uneasy either.

Scientists have recently tried to replicate human emotions on the face of a robot and it gave everyone the heebie-jeebies. However, the facial movements seemingly aren't quite there yet as one Twitter viewer hilariously described that the grimaces as reminding them of 'the UK emotions of being absolutely off ya bonk'.

I suppose we won't have to worry about that robot potentially going haywire anytime soon. But it's something that has always been on our minds.

Perhaps one of the first on-screen examples of AI being absolutely terrifying was in 1984 film, The Terminator.

Orion Pictures

Though Arnold Schwarzenegger's iconic character was designed to be just that, it isn't hard to imagine what a possible future could look like if robots managed to gain sentience.

In fact, director of The Terminator, James Cameron believes that AI has already gone too far and it might be too late for us to stop it.

During an appearance on the SmartLess podcast, Cameron admitted that he's 'pretty concerned about the potential for misuse of AI', adding: “I think A.I. can be great, but also it could literally be the end of the world.

"And do we really want to be fighting something smarter than us that isn't us on our own world? I don't think so."

Topics: Reddit, South Park, Technology

Harley Young