South Park is known for pushing the envelope, but the latest episode has been described as “nightmare fuel” by fans online.
In arguably one of the most disturbing episodes of the year, “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone explore how easy it is to create artificial intelligence-generated videos, and how easy it is for some people to be fooled by artificial intelligence-generated videos or convinced that real videos are fake.
Discussion about Wednesday’s episode largely revolved around depictions of President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance having sex. They told reporters that the leaked video of their affair was a fake created using Sora 2, the latest version of OpenAI’s video generator.
In the same episode, titled “Sora Not Sorry,” the South Park kids create a revenge porn video using Sora as a way to get even with each other. Mr. Butters creates an explicit video of Red and Santa Claus, and then creates a similarly explicit video featuring Butters and Totoro from the Studio Ghibli classic My Neighbor Totoro.
Chaos ensues as kids feverishly create AI-generated videos featuring famous (and copyrighted) cartoon characters. South Park police are stunned, believing the video to be real.
Droopy Dog, Rocky, Bullwinkle, Popeye, and even the kindergartener’s favorite character Bluey are mentioned or appear in the episodes. A representative from Studio Ghibli also appears, insisting on reason amidst the madness, saying, “We can’t just use someone else’s IP without permission.”
This mirrors the actual reaction Studio Ghibli had when Sora 2 came out, claiming that OpenAI likely used its own content and other Japanese art as machine learning data. The Japan Content Overseas Distribution Association, an anti-piracy organization representing Japanese intellectual property owners, released a letter in late October stating that the organization believes OpenAI’s actions “may constitute copyright infringement.” CODA called on OpenAI to stop using Japanese content for machine learning and to respond “in good faith” to claims of copyright infringement.
OpenAI says the latest update to Sora, released at the end of September, is “more physically accurate, realistic, and easier to control than previous systems,” and also features synchronized dialogue and sound effects.
The company sparked a backlash as soon as it released the new version. The app operated under a system that required intellectual property owners to opt out of the app. This means users will be able to create videos featuring popular actors, characters, voices and likenesses until the rights holder requests to opt out.
Unauthorized deepfakes of celebrities, deceased people, and copyrighted characters began to circulate rapidly, including videos of Robin Williams, Michael Jackson, and Martin Luther King Jr., in what the company called “disrespectful depictions of Dr. King’s image.” OpenAI and King’s estate issued a joint statement in October saying the app would block the ability to create generations featuring King, as the company “strengthens guardrails for historical figures.”
After many Hollywood studios and agencies expressed dissatisfaction with the policy, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a blog post that the AI company plans to give rights holders “more control over the generation of their characters. This is similar to the opt-in model for image rights, but with additional controls.”
Some studios have expressed interest in the user-generated content space, and Disney CEO Bob Iger said on a recent earnings call that the company is in “productive conversations” with an unnamed AI company to reach an agreement that “reflects the need to protect intellectual property.”
Back at South Park Elementary School, a disturbing AI-generated video battle rages on, and Kyle wonders how it’s legal to create that kind of content, especially content that uses copyrighted characters. “Nothing is sacred, Kyle,” Butters tells him. “All you can do is put out the fire with fire.”
The episode seems to address Parker and Stone’s own frustrations with their work being copied, as evidenced by the line from billionaire Peter Thiel, who also appears in the episode: “With Sora 2, you can make the kid from South Park do just about anything.”
