Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Olga Loiek
Topics: Artificial Intelligence, Social Media, Technology, Ukraine, World News, Russia
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: Artificial Intelligence, Social Media, Technology, Ukraine, World News, Russia
A Ukrainian YouTuber has spoken out after finding an artificial intelligence version of her face online 'promoting Russia'.
Cognitive Science & Computation student at the University of Pennsylvania, Olga Loiek also runs a YouTube channel, creating content on topics such as 'self-discovery' and 'burnout'.
However, in 2023, her experience of online platforms darkened when she discovered AI versions of her face being used in various videos on multiple social media channels - from Chinese to Russian.
The 21-year-old - who has family still located in Ukraine - first started her YouTube channel back in 2023, but just a month into her experience as a content creator, she began receiving messages from people who said they'd spotted her on various Chinese social media platforms and in them, she even appeared to be speaking Mandarin.
When Loiek dug deeper, she told the BBC discovered some of the accounts had 'things like Russian flags in the bio'.
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She continues: "I could see my face and hear my voice. But it was all very creepy, because I saw myself saying things that I never said. [...] I saw like 90 percent of the videos were talking about China and Russia, China-Russia friendship, that we have to be strong allies, as well as advertisements for food."
One account featuring Loiek's face under the name 'Natasha' saw the AI version say: "Russia is the best country. It’s sad that other countries are turning away from Russia, and Russian women want to come to China."
Loiek said in a video to her page: "It seems like the main narrative behind these accounts is to strengthen the relationship between these two countries. As a Ukrainian, this has obviously been infuriating for me - after all, my family has to hie during air raid sirens and hundreds of thousands of my fellow Ukrainians are getting displaced, injured or killed because of the Russian attacks."
But what could be done to help Loiek?
Well, thankfully, after her fiancé raised awareness of these accounts, the firm which allegedly developed the tool used to create the AI versions of Loiek responded saying it had blocked her image from being used. Loiek's face had been generated into a staggering 4,900 videos or more.
A spokesperson later told the BBC the 'unauthorized content' was a result of its system being hacked and it had since updated its verification methods and system to make it safer to use.
However, that's not stopped people from taking to social media in horror.
One Instagram user said: "What in the episode of black mirror is this?"
"This is terrifying. Ai was supposed to help us day to day life easier, allowing us to spend more time on our hobbies and our families, to become happier, and now we have deepfakes promoting propaganda and other crimes and ai generated art becoming a trend. Humanity has failed once again," another added.
And a third commented: "Yeah uh, when are we banning AI again."
Unfortunately, Loiek's case isn't the first and certainly won't be the last. Countries are trying to update laws and regulate AI, but there's still a long way to do before people are protected, Loiek imploring others to 'stay informed' and 'question everything' they see online now.
She resolves: "Together we have the power to shape our online world."
UNILAD has contacted Loiek for further comment.