A manipulated video of President Richard Nixon delivering an Apollo 11 contingency speech is circulating online, with its creators hoping to highlight the disturbing power of the “fake” videos.
It took the Massachusetts Institute of Technology more than half a year to create the 7-minute video, which shows actual images from NASA and then the president delivers a speech as if Apollo 11 had taken a tragic turn, Space.com reported.
“Fate has ordained that men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace,” says Nixon in the speech, written by speechwriter William Safire, referring to astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
In reality, Armstrong and Aldrin safely landed on the moon on July 20, 1969, and returned to their Earth home, along with teammate Michael Collins.
The project, dubbed “In the Event of a Moon Disaster” and developed by experts from MIT’s Center for Advanced Virtuality, was intended to demonstrate the dangerous influence that “deep” videos can have.
“In Event of Moon Disaster is an immersive art project that invites you into an alternative story and asks us to consider how new technologies can bend, redirect and obfuscate the truth around us,” wrote the creators on the project’s website. .
“By creating this alternative story, the project explores the influence and pervasiveness of misinformation and false technology in our contemporary society.”
Experts said artificial intelligence technology called “deep learning” was used to mimic Nixon’s voice and facial movements. The contingency speech, which is stored in the National Archives, was read aloud by a speech actor.
“In Event of Moon Disaster” made its debut last year as an art installation and won multiple awards.
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