Already at MAX 2021 Adobe showed an AI Sensei technology about which we have yet to report. Basically, it is a mix of features already known in the AI scene, but now as a demo already partially executable in Premiere...
Adobe's Project Morpheus can change facial expressions in a video clip.
Behind the code name Project Morpheus is the possibility to apply features from Latent Space to existing faces in a video clip. Sounds a bit incomprehensible? Well, then it's quite simple: With this function, the facial expression of a person can be changed in a video. Specifically, the parameters Happyness, Surprise or Anger can be manipulated with sliders. This function can also be used to change other facial characteristics, such as age or hair thickness. Last but not least, the demo video shows from the command line how a mustache can be plausibly added to the face:
Of all the Sensei features known so far, this is probably the most potent AI feature in Adobe programs to date. Because such changes in a moving image sequence could only be created manually by absolute pixel wizards so far. Now, with a few sliders, the thing becomes possible for everyone.
When the function will be available in Premiere is still absolutely open, but that it will come (also in other programs) is considered safe. Which in turn raises the question of what this will ultimately mean for the acting profession.
In the future, can and may a director mess around with an actor's facial expressions at will in post? Here the smile a little more subtle, there the corner of the mouth a little down. All of this is then just a question of sliders - until it fits. With this, perhaps even less expensive amateur actors can be raised to middle-class level.
Or vice versa: If the critics complain that an actor in a film has acted badly, can he then sue the director for manipulating facial expressions in a way that damages his reputation? Sounds funny at first, but this technology will definitely become a problem for actors in a few years...
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