Kalen DeBoer said WHAT?! | How to REVIEW a deepfake video

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – After Saturday’s 41-34 win over Georgia that lifted the Alabama Crimson Tide to the top of the latest AP college football rankings, head coach Kalen DeBoer has reason to brag.

However, in a video that is going viral on multiple social media accounts, DeBoer says some pretty unexpected, outlandish and potentially offensive things about the game against the Bulldogs.

If you haven’t seen the original post, we won’t link to the actual video, but we can transcribe parts of what was said. One of the clearer comments in the video reads: “Everyone knew Alabama was going to beat Georgia tonight. That’s what we always do.” Jalen Milroe … sent those bulldogs to the vet and euthanized them.”

But first let’s check if the video is real.

Is a video of Kalen DeBoer celebrating Alabama’s win over Georgia real?

The unedited version of DeBoer’s press conference

No, Kalen DeBoer did not say what is depicted in the video, which appears to be a product of AI-powered deepfake production methods.

The University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide YouTube channel features all of the postgame press conferences that DeBoer and his predecessor, Nick Saban, have held in recent years.

Examples from each can provide clues to the demeanor, rhythm and tone each man used when speaking to the media on a range of topics.

This is also how people can create “deepfake” videos. Artificial intelligence services can take samples of any voice – often with as little as 30 seconds to 2 minutes of audio – and create audio and video files in which the person can say anything the creator desires. The AI ​​is often fed outrageous dialogue to get clicks and shares.

That’s certainly the case in this video. Using Saturday’s press conference as an example, the creator of the deepfake video had DeBoer comment “Everyone knew Alabama would beat Georgia” and say the following (edited for content):

• “I almost shit my pants in the fourth quarter…”
• “That red-headed Carson Beck threw a 67-yard touchdown…”
• “The guy played like he was Daniel Jones in the first half. We beat them by four points.”
• “After halftime, Carson turned into Sam Darnold, the red-headed football god.”
• “Jalen Milroe threw a fucking piss missile at Mobile’s best, Ryan Williams.”
• “He sent these bulldogs to the vet and euthanized them. Roll F*****g Tide, baby.”

The quality of the clip is blurry, helping to obscure the fact that DeBoer’s alleged speech does not match his facial movements – a hallmark of determining whether a video has been altered.

In the actual video, DeBoer compliments Milroe on his performance in the game. “Jalen had a good look at the room and the coverage,” he said. But at no point was the phrase “sent these bulldogs to the vet” or anything similar to the samples listed above spoken.

This video was likely created by an overzealous Alabama fan who wanted some extra money after an exciting game at Georgia. But as often happens with viral videos, the original creator hasn’t been credited in many recently shared posts.