From Stephen Hawking to Michael Jackson, Sora 2's slop is not even sparing dead celebrities

If you thought Veo 3 pushed AI’s limits to generate perfectly lip-synced videos from just text prompts, OpenAI’s Sora 2 begs you to revisit it. Launched last week, alongside a TikTok-style scrollable feed of vertical videos, Sora 2 is designed to mark a “big leap forward” in generating highly realistic videos with a higher degree of controllability and the ability to follow the laws of physics with better accuracy.

While OpenAI claims Sora 2 to be a “healthier platform for entertainment and creativity compared to what is available right now,” we’re seeing it being used to generate more AI slop. Although the newer model, as well as the video app, is still invite-only, we’re seeing countless accounts of nonchalantly offensive content being generated. As you would expect from the internet, we’re witnessing an insurmountable tendency to recreate fictional characters. And while it requires celebrities explicitly to opt in (instead of opting out) to allow their faces or personalities to be morphed with Sora, we’re seeing deceased ones face the brunt of the wildly imaginative users with early access.

From Stephen Hawking smacking professional wrestlers in a WWE ring to former US President John F Kennedy discussing the advancements of AI in online commerce, Gandhi drifting in a Toyota Supra, Michael Jackson performing a peculiar standup act, or a street interview with rapper Tupac Shakur, these are some of the countless deepfakes featuring celebrities that aren’t among us anymore. That is possible because the app lets you upload a picture and use it as a reference for likeness, producing results nearly instantly.

If it’s any consolation, Sora 2 has not even spared Sam Altman, who has been depicted in numerous videos as shoplifting, sleeping in an office chair, or starting a dance riot on a subway station. Ironically, these videos were shared by a supposed OpenAI engineer, Gabiel Peters, demonstrating the ease of creating videos.

In addition to being harrowing, these videos all violate OpenAI’s policy, which requires explicit consent from celebrities when their physical traits can be used for “cameos.” The problem is even more pressing for deceased celebrities who cannot consent to cameos themselves, especially since OpenAI has allowed the creation of videos featuring historical figures, as a company spokesperson confirmed to PCMag.

And we can’t forget the human aspect behind it all. These videos are outrightly disrespectful to the dead. And speaking of their social implications, they could be used to mobilize people using false political narratives, used for unabashed cyberbullying, or even revenge pornography. These are aspects OpenAI needs to claim responsibility for. The mere attachment of a Sora watermark (which can be easily cropped out) does not guarantee immunity.

While currently there’s little resistance from celebrities, their family members, or spokespersons — apart from the celebrated actor Robert William’s daughter — we can expect legal disputes to mount for OpenAI if it can’t contain the content on its platform. OpenAI or any representative has yet to address the issue publicly, though we have little hope for the content’s moderation.