A young grime performer from Birmingham has been brought ‘back to life’ with deepfake technology in a bid to raise awareness of knife crime after he was murdered.

British 18-year-old, Joshua Ribera was stabbed outside a nightclub in 2003. His mum, Alison Cope now is an anti-knife campaigner. In a bid to make the teaching of youth violence compulsory in schools, she worked with various artists to create a deepfake AI video of ‘Depzman’ rapping about the effects knife-crime has on families.

Depzman toured with grime star Skepta where he built up a huge following in that scene. The high quality deepfake video cleverly uses AI technology to talk about heartbreak, destroyed families and tells kids to think twice before packing a knife. The video, released on SBTV, has spread on social media gaining more than a million views on TikTok and shared by rappers Jaykae, JME and Skepta. It was played on 65 prison TVs around the UK.

Who created the deepfake?

Alison Cope
Jamal Edwards

Was the content disclosed as a deepfake?

Yes

Was the deepfake consensual?

Yes

How was the deepfake created?

Deepfake Software
Video Editing
Voice cloning software
Lip syncing software