---
title: "Here’s How to Turn Into Deepfake Elon Musk During Zoom Meetings"
description: "A new deepfake filter allows video conferencing participants to make themselves look like practically any celebrity, including the Mona Lisa or Elon Musk."
date: "2020-04-17"
modified: "2020-04-17"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/deepfake-elon-musk-zoom-meetings"
categories:
  - "Elon Musk"
  - "Future Society"
  - "The Industrialists"
tags:
  - "deepfake"
  - "elon musk"
  - "the digest"
  - "zoom"
---

# Here’s How to Turn Into Deepfake Elon Musk During Zoom Meetings

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/deepfake-elon-musk-zoom-meetings.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Ali Aliev\</em\>*

## Whomst

A new deepfake-powered filter allows video conferencing participants to make themselves [look like practically any ](<https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/g5xagy/this-open-source-program-deepfakes-you-during-zoom-meetings-in-real-time>)[famous person](<https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/g5xagy/this-open-source-program-deepfakes-you-during-zoom-meetings-in-real-time>), living or dead, ranging from the Mona Lisa to Steve Jobs and Elon Musk.

Avatarify essentially uses an algorithm that can superimpose the face of a celebrity over the user's face in real-time. The code for the software is available to download for anybody [via Github](<https://github.com/alievk/avatarify>).

## I'm Elon

A video demonstration shows an Elon Musk pop into a three-way Zoom call. While the visual likeness is spot on — aided by the fact that streams tend to be a pixelated mess — the vocal performance leaves something to be desired.

The shocked reactions by the other two participants, regrettably, aren't exactly Oscar-worthy.

https://youtu.be/lONuXGNqLO0

## Fake Out

Programmer Ali Aliev — the fake Elon Musk in the video above — took advantage of open source code from software called First Order Motion, a face-swapping program that was developed by a team of Italian researchers as well as Snap Inc., [according to *Motherboard*](<https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/g5xagy/this-open-source-program-deepfakes-you-during-zoom-meetings-in-real-time>).

"Developing a prototype was a matter of a couple of hours and I decided to make fun of my colleagues with whom I have a Zoom call each Monday," Aliev told *Motherboard*. And that worked. As they are all engineers and researchers, the first reaction was curiosity and we soon began testing the prototype."

**READ MORE:** [This Open-Source Program Deepfakes You During Zoom Meetings, in Real Time](<https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/g5xagy/this-open-source-program-deepfakes-you-during-zoom-meetings-in-real-time>) \[*Motherboard*\]

**More on deepfakes:** [Watch a Deepfaked Trump Say Epstein Didn’t Kill Himself](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/deepfake-trump-epstein-didnt-kill-himself>)

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)