The Brief: Doublicat is an AI-based GIF and meme-making app that uses deepfake technology to combine user selfies with GIFs of celebrities.

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DEEP DIVE

Update: Doublicat has been renamed REFACE. Read more about the current version of the app here

The dangers of deepfakes should not be understated, but this app is using them in a much less sinister way: for memes, funny GIFs and celebrity face mashups. Doublicat is a free app that allows users to create memes and GIFs that combine their face with popular reaction GIFs.

To use Doublicat, one must either take a selfie or choose a photo of a face close-up. Then, they can choose from a range of GIFs, many of which feature well-known celebrities. In a few seconds, the app will generate a GIF that combines the uploaded face with the one in the GIF for hybrids that can be both hilarious and deeply disturbing. GIFs can then be saved or uploaded to social media.

Justin Beiber + Ellen Degeneres

At the time of writing, Doublicat is listed as the #15 entertainment app in Apple’s App Store where it has received an average of 4.9 stars out of 83 reviews.

Safety & Privacy

In the wake of controversial privacy policies from other facial recognition and AI-based apps like FaceApp, Doublicat has publicly stated that it does deletes user photos “right away,” saving only “face embeddings – vector representations of facial features – which [they] don’t share with anyone.” Details of how Doublicat processes, uses, saves, and shares user data is laid out in their privacy policy.

Facebook recently announced that it will ban “misleading deepfakes,” but this policy excludes parody such as the comedic GIFs created via Doublicat.

On Apple’s App Store, Doublicat is recommended for users ages 12 and up due. The app is free to download, with ads that appear within the app, such as when GIFs are being compiled.

Doublicat Celebrity Mashups

As this app allows users to upload any photo, we’ve created a few celebrity face mashups to demonstrate what Doublicat can do.

Justin Beiber + Superman
Billie Eilish + Dr. Evil
Elizabeth Warren + Judi Dench in Cats
Elizabeth Warren + Ellen