Google’s new AI model transforms anything into anything with ease
· Allison Johnson
A reporter at The Verge spent last year deepfaking his kid's stuffed deer. He created videos of the plush toy, named Buddy, on vacation.
A reporter at The Verge spent last year deepfaking his kid's stuffed deer. He created videos of the plush toy, named Buddy, on vacation. It started as an experiment to see if he could replicate the scenes from a Gemini ad Google was running. He never actually showed the videos to his four-year-old.
The exercise turned into something more revealing than a cute prank. It made him think hard about the line between harmless generative AI fun and full blown slop. Maybe that line doesn't even exist. Maybe it's a perfect circle. But what stuck with him was how shockingly easy the tools are to use. Making realistic video requires very little effort or know how.
That trend is not slowing down. As these tools get better and more accessible, the distinction between genuine creative play and thoughtless content spam will only get blurrier. The piece is a good reminder that the tech is already here. We just haven't decided what rules we want to play by.