[Edaily Reporter Nam Soyeon ] TV personality Lee Ji-hye has announced she will take legal action against an advertisement that used AI to create a deepfake of her face without permission. Although the government has been rolling out countermeasures one after another, advertisements that impersonate celebrities using deepfake technology show no signs of disappearing.

On the 28th, Lee Ji-hye posted the problematic advertisement video on her

, stating, “As I mentioned before, it doesn’t seem to be a domestic company, and I am currently looking into laws that can be used to take legal action.”
She continued, “They’re using AI to make it look like I’m endorsing the product, including a link to sell it,” and emphasized, “I urge you not to fall victim to this.”
In the actual video, a figure with Lee Ji-hye’s face superimposed using deepfake technology appears. This figure says, “It’s so delicious. A premium food product grown 100% on our land,” introducing a specific product as if she were eating it herself and recommending it.
The advertisement was produced so meticulously that it is difficult to distinguish from a video actually filmed by Lee Ji-hye. Not only was her face superimposed, but her voice was also synthesized to sound similar, and a link encouraging product purchases was inserted toward the end of the video. However, some subtitles contain somewhat awkward Korean expressions, suggesting they were generated by a translation tool.
Cases like this, in which celebrities’ faces and voices are replicated using deepfake technology and misused in advertisements, continue to occur. The tactic involves leveraging a celebrity’s name recognition to gain consumers’ trust, then encouraging them to purchase products or visit specific websites.
The government has also recognized the severity of the problem and is stepping up its response.
Last December, the government announced the “Measures to Address False and Exaggerated Advertising That Disrupts Market Order Using AI and Other Technologies.” It decided to introduce punitive damages for cases where malicious false or fabricated information is distributed via information and communications networks, causing harm, and to significantly increase the level of administrative fines for false and exaggerated advertising under the Labeling and Advertising Act.
In June of this year, it launched an inter-ministerial task force to address various crimes involving the misuse of AI technology and began establishing a joint response system covering everything from prevention to detection, blocking, investigation, and victim compensation.
Related bills have also been proposed in the National Assembly.
The “Partial Amendment Bill to the Act on the Prevention of Unfair Competition and the Protection of Trade Secrets,” sponsored by People Power Party Representative Kim Seong-won on the 26th, clearly defines the misuse of AI-synthesized portraits and voices of celebrities as acts of unfair competition.