Putin Faces AI Deepfake of Himself at Annual Press Conference

Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to be caught off guard at his end-of-year press conference this week when a Russian citizen who phoned in with a question appeared on-screen as an AI deepfake of Putin himself.

The citizen, who claimed to be a student who studies in Saint Petersburg, asked Putin about rumors that he uses body doubles as a security tactic and to evade questions about his health, as well as the impact of artificial intelligence.

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"Vladimir Vladimirovich, hello. I would like to ask you, 'Is it true that you have many doppelgangers?'" said the student, as translated by The Daily Mail. "How do you view the dangers that artificial intelligence and neural networks bring into our lives?"

Putin appeared surprised by the deepfake. "I see you may resemble me and speak with my voice," Putin responded. "But only one person must be like me and speak with my voice, and that will be me!" He added: "By the way, this is my first twin. My twin number one," according to a dubbed translation of the full conference.

The Kremlin has denied that Putin uses body doubles—online or in person—though Ukrainian military intelligence, Western media, and independent Russian media claim several Putin stand-ins have undergone plastic surgery and years of training to accurately mimic him. Japanese researchers endorsed the claims last month after an AI analysis of Putin's speeches concluded he has a minimum of two doppelgangers, Newsweek reports.

As NBC News notes, Putin typically holds two end-of-year press conferences: one in which he answers questions from citizens and another with the press. Last year's events were canceled amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but both returned this year. It's unclear how citizens are selected to ask Putin questions, though it's undoubtedly a tightly choreographed event.

Another AI-related question, for example, came from an 8-year-old girl who asked if AI would "supercede" her and her family. Putin said that wouldn't happen, but argued AI development is "impossible to prevent" so Russia must be a leader in it.

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"We can talk about restrictions, and we should come to terms among the leaders to prevent us from lapsing into dangerous situations for humanity," he said. "When nuclear energy was weaponized as a nuclear bomb, everybody became aware that the threat was increasing and the damage would be insurmountable. They started coming to terms [with it], so the same will happen with AI."

Pope Francis, who has critized Putin's war in Ukraine, today called for a binding global treaty to regulate AI and promote peace, Reuters reports. He expressed particular concern over the use of AI in warfare and the possibility of "technological dictatorship."

"I urge the global community of nations to work together in order to adopt a binding international treaty that regulates the development and use of artificial intelligence in its many forms," he said.