Mar-AI Carey – deepfake interview or dismissive?

Mariah Carey has confused fans by giving dismissive and monosyllabic responses during an interview on Australian entertainment show The Project.

The reaction that followed in response to a portion of the interview was a speculative one, questioning the authenticity of Carey’s answers.

Whether she was bored or not was unclear – but some believe it may have been AI.

Regardless, the clip shows how difficult it can be to distinguish what’s real and what’s not.

Diva or deepfake?

It’s hard to tell whether it’s a bored Mariah in the interview or whether someone is messing around with AI.

Considering that it was a live broadcast, you'd assume it was disinterested – or perhaps just perplexed – Mariah.

The interviewer asked what she’d like on her tour ride when she comes to Australia to headline Friday Live Tour. She answered – “a kangaroo.”

When told that kangaroos can be quite fierce, she asked, “What was the other one?”

The animal in question was a koala. When the interviewer mentioned they’ve been known to spread chlamydia, an exasperated Mariah replied, “No, I could not!”

Distorted image vs. reality

As often happens with clickbait generally, after an awkward interview, the media channel news.com.au released selective footage, with a single bizarre clip.

The interviewer herself externalizes a lot of context for 23 seconds before asking whether amplified criticism is fair for high-profile female singers.

Mariah’s response is then clipped – and unless you watch the full interview (available on YouTube), you don’t get to hear the full range of questions, and sure some are brief, and others a bit longer – it’s not the work of AI.

Factor in that she also gave a much more comprehensive interview to Today Australia with Richard Wilkins, and it seems likely that Carey just had back-to-back Zoom calls and hit a little burnout.

With deepfakes all around us, celebrities now have an extra job – proving they’re real.

Authenticity might be difficult on Zoom calls – when it’s all sweet, sweet fantasy, maybe.