- RFU warn England rugby star Billy Vunipola after Mallorca arrest
- Forest have 'moved on' from failed points deduction appeal, says Nuno
- Dyche unable to 'crack on' with Everton rebuild during takeover saga
- Stormy Daniels denies cashing in on claims of tryst with Trump
- Trump's son Barron, 18, named Republican delegate
- Mbappe gets ready to say goodbye as PSG digest Champions League exit
- Nadal squeezes past qualifier Bergs in Rome opener
- Boeing passenger plane exits runway in Senegal injuring 11
- Chessum in doubt for England's tour of Japan and New Zealand
- UK's Cameron calls for Israel to produce 'clear plan' for Rafah
- Cate Blanchett to be honoured at San Sebastian film festival
- Olympic torch relay in Marseille offers 'solidarity' with Ukraine
- Jorginho targets silverware after signing new Arsenal deal
- Stormy Daniels back in the Trump trial hot seat
- Scientists win World Food Prize for work on Global Seed Vault
- London, Frankfurt stocks hit record highs on rate-cut hopes
- Israel hits Rafah despite US warning on arms transfers
- Atletico win appeal over racist abuse sanction
- Nepal's nature threatened by new development push: conservationists
- Russell returns from injury to bolster Bath's bid for Premiership title
- Cate Blanchett to be honoured by San Sebastian film festival
- Charity warns Italy's ban on NGO planes risks lives
- Celtic captain McGregor urges Hoops to 'stay calm' against Rangers
- Olympic javelin champion Chopra targets 90m mark in Doha
- Norris backs McLaren to mount 2025 F1 title bid after Miami win
- London, Frankfurt hit record highs on rate-cut hopes
- UK's Cameron urges NATO countries to boost defence spending
- Bank of England holds rate at 16-year high, signals looming cut
- Spanish court shelves Shakira tax fraud case
- Bayern face uncertain future after Champions League exit
- Rafah struck after Biden warning on arms transfers
- European stocks stutter before Bank of England rate call
- Italian tennis star Giorgi retires
- Inevitable Madrid continue Champions League love affair
- Nissan net profit nearly doubles despite China challenges
- Spain vows to block BBVA's hostile bid for rival bank
- Olympic torch relay sets off in Marseille
- Blackstone wins bidding war for UK music rights firm
- Famed Thai holiday isles suffer water shortages after heatwave
- Nissan annual net profit nearly doubles on-year
- Putin says nuclear forces 'always' on alert in Victory Day speech
- Chinese cities lift curbs on buying homes as property crisis bites
- Malaysian team pulls out of season opener after footballer acid attack
- Japan's Mount Fuji barrier delayed
- Markets' rally stutters as traders eye rate cut outlook
- Spanish bank BBVA goes hostile in Sabadell takeover bid
- S. Korea president admits 'shortcomings' in rare address
- Romania opens first crowd-funded hospital
- Swift and Beyonce show the lucrative pop-fashion liaison
- Struggling Crusaders boosted by return of All Blacks pair
Microsoft teases lifelike avatar AI tech but gives no release date
Researchers at Microsoft have revealed a new artificial tool that can create deeply realistic human avatars -- but offered no timetable to make it available to the public, citing concerns about facilitating deep fake content.
The AI model known as VASA-1, for "visual affective skills," can create an animated video of a person talking, with synchronized lip movements, using just a single image and a speech audio clip.
Disinformation researchers fear rampant misuse of AI-powered applications to create "deep fake" pictures, video, and audio clips in a pivotal election year.
"We are opposed to any behavior to create misleading or harmful contents of real persons," wrote the authors of the VASA-1 report, released this week by Microsoft Research Asia.
"We are dedicated to developing AI responsibly, with the goal of advancing human well-being," they said.
"We have no plans to release an online demo, API, product, additional implementation details, or any related offerings until we are certain that the technology will be used responsibly and in accordance with proper regulations."
Microsoft researchers said the technology can capture a wide spectrum of facial nuances and natural head motions.
"It paves the way for real-time engagements with lifelike avatars that emulate human conversational behaviors," researchers said in the post.
VASA can work with artistic photos, songs, and non-English speech, according to Microsoft.
Researchers touted potential benefits of the technology such as providing virtual teachers to students or therapeutic support to people in need.
"It is not intended to create content that is used to mislead or deceive," they said.
VASA videos still have "artifacts" that reveal they are AI-generated, according to the post.
ProPublica technology lead Ben Werdmuller said he'd be "excited to hear about someone using it to represent them in a Zoom meeting for the first time."
"Like, how did it go? Did anyone notice?" he said on social network Threads.
ChatGPT-maker OpenAI in March revealed a voice-cloning tool called "Voice Engine" that can essentially duplicate someone's speech based on a 15-second audio sample.
But it said it was "taking a cautious and informed approach to a broader release due to the potential for synthetic voice misuse."
Earlier this year, a consultant working for a long-shot Democratic presidential candidates admitted he was behind a robocall impersonation of Joe Biden sent to voters in New Hampshire, saying he was trying to highlight the dangers of AI.
The call featured what sounded like Biden's voice urging people not to cast ballots in the state's January's primary, sparking alarm among experts who fear a deluge of AI-powered deep fake disinformation in the 2024 White House race.
M.Odermatt--BTB