Phony AI-generated videos of Hurricane Melissa flood social media sites

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Category: Technology/Innovations

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Unlocking Word Meanings

Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.

  1. splice / splaɪs / (v.) – to connect two or more pieces of film, video, or other material to make a single piece
    Example:

    The movie was carefully spliced together from hundreds of short videos.


  2. hoax / hoʊks / (n.) – an act or a thing that is made or done to fool people into believing something that is not true
    Example:

    A hoax post on social media about a new pandemic caused panic in the country.


  3. debunk / dɪˈbʌŋk / (v.) – to show that a story, idea, or belief is not true
    Example:

    The government quickly debunked rumors about a new pandemic.


  4. deepfake / ˈdipˌfeɪk / (n.) – a photo, video, or sound recording that has been changed using artificial intelligence (AI) to make it look or sound real
    Example:

    Some deepfakes are made for fun, but others are used to tell false stories.


  5. inherently / ɪnˈhɛr ənt li / (adv.) – in a way or manner that is a natural or basic part of someone or something
    Example:

    The plan failed because it was inherently weak from the start.


Article

Read the text below.

One viral video shows what appears to be four sharks swimming in a Jamaican hotel’s pool as floodwaters allegedly brought on by Hurricane Melissa swamp the area. Another purportedly depicts Jamaica’s Kingston airport completely ravaged by the storm. But neither of these events happened; they’re just AI-generated misinformation circulating on social media as the storm churned across the Caribbean several weeks ago.


These videos and others have racked up millions of views on social media platforms, including X, TikTok, and Instagram. Some of the clips appear to be spliced together or based on footage of old disasters. Others appear to be created entirely by AI video generators.


“I am in so many WhatsApp groups, and I see all of these videos coming. Many of them are fake,” said Jamaica’s Education Minister Dana Morris Dixon. “And so we urge you to please listen to the official channels.”


Although it’s common for hoax photos, videos, and misinformation to surface during natural disasters, they’re usually debunked quickly. But videos generated by new artificial intelligence tools have taken the problem to a new level by making it easy to create and spread realistic clips. In this case, the content has been showing up in social media feeds alongside genuine footage shot by local residents and news organizations, sowing confusion among social media users.


Experts noted that Hurricane Melissa is the first big natural disaster since OpenAI launched the latest version of its video generation tool Sora last September. “Now, with the rise of easily accessible and powerful tools like Sora, it has become even easier for bad actors to create and distribute highly convincing synthetic videos,” said Sofia Rubinson, a senior editor at NewsGuard, which analyzes online misinformation.


AI expert Henry Ajder said most of the hurricane deepfakes he’s seen aren’t inherently political. He suspects it’s “much closer to more traditional kind of click-based content, which is to try and get engagement, to try and get clicks.”


This article was provided by The Associated Press.


Viewpoint Discussion

Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.

Discussion A

  • Many people believed the deepfake hurricane videos, even though some didn’t look real. Why do you think people sometimes believe deepfake videos online, even when they don’t look real? Have you ever believed a deepfake video online and shared it with others? What would you do if you had already shared a video and then found out it was fake? Discuss.
  • Do you easily believe videos or photos you see online? Why or why not? How do you check if a video or photo is real or fake before sharing it? Discuss.

Discussion B

  • AI can now create very realistic videos that look like real news. Do you think this kind of technology is more helpful or more dangerous for society? Why? How should people or governments control the use of AI tools that can make fake content? Discuss.
  • If fake videos become even more realistic, how might that change the way people trust news online? How do you think it will affect how people use social media? Discuss.