In the last few days, the Doctor Who community was buzzing over this leaked set image showing Paul McGann’s return as the 8th Doctor.
There’s only one problem; it’s fake.
At first glance, it’s pretty convincing, but the closer you look, the more you start to realise it’s AI. I’d say the biggest clue is McGann himself, looking a bit younger than he is and a bit off in a harder-to-define way. Then there’s Billie Piper’s hands and a mask that seems to pass directly through a crew member’s ear.
The reason I bring this up (and feel it deserves its own thread) is that I believe this image is a harbinger of things to come. Rumours spawned by fake images are nothing new, but there was a time when creating a convincing fake required a level of skill. AI tools a now available to anyone and everyone, and social media makes them easier than ever to proliferate. Framing the image explicitly as a set photo is a new innovation in the process, and unfortunately, it feels like the beginning of a trend. I believe another is doing the rounds showing Tobey Maguire and Hugh Jackman on the set of Avengers: Doomsday.
It’s only a matter of time before Bond gets in on this trend. I foresee AI-generated images ‘confirming’ the actors as the next Bond, alongside the actresses ‘confirmed’ as the next Bond girl. Now you don’t need to claim that Aaron Taylor-Johnson has filmed the gunbarrel; you can make it with AI.
The rumour mill for the next Bond is about to get very tedious.