Woman claims company used AI to steal her face for commercial

A woman has turned to TikTok after discovering a deepfake advertisement that seemingly uses her likeness.

Viewers have urged Michel Janse (@michel.c.janse) to "lawyer up" after finding herself the target of what can only be described as a Black Mirror-esque episode.

In the clip that's racked up over 1.2 million views, Michel alleged that an erectile dysfunction pill company used AI to manipulate a video she previously posted on her channel.

"AI stole my likeness and created a deepfake ad of me promoting erectile dysfunction pills," she claimed. "So this ad was me, in my bedroom, in my old apartment [in] Austin wearing my clothes talking about their pill."

Michel then went on to share a snippet from the AI-generated ad, with the woman sharing a story about her partner who has problems performing in the bedroom.

"I honestly don’t know how we as a society can be like more discerning as to being able to tell what is real and what is fake," she continued. "Because it’s gonna continue to get more and more realistic and accurate every time."

Michel's clip was soon flooded with thousands of comments, with one writing: "I know everyone’s saying sue but I really hope a lawyer is willing to take your case pro bono bc this could rightly change the course of history."

Another added: "I truly believe there is no upside to generative AI. So sorry this happened to you."

A third suggested that the fake ad sounded exactly like Michel.

Meanwhile, one person humoured: "When I say and do embarrassing things I’m just gonna say it was an AI deep fake."

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