Experts warn of “authentication crisis” due to spread of AI fake videosPublished at 12:16 GMT
Shelly Ryder and Richard Irvin-Brown
BBC verification
Another example of an AI-generated video of a heavy snowfall in Russia’s Kamchatka region shows people sliding down a huge snowdrift between two skyscrapers.
One post of an imaginary scene received about 1 million views on X. However, unlike the TikTok clips we previously reported, there was no label or explanation that they were created by AI.
As with these videos, there are clearly seemingly impossible elements that indicate AI is being used. Because the snowdrifts are so steep and high, those who try to slide down are more likely to sink into the snow, fall, and cause the fragile snow layer to collapse.
An in-house AI checker that examines the video frame by frame rated it as fake.
Henk van Es, an expert on the use of AI in investigative research, also ran the video through his ImageWhisperer tool and concluded it was fake.
He told us that images like this and the stupid journalist example from earlier were “on the brink of validation.”
“Today it’s a lot of snow footage. Tomorrow it’s fabricated disasters and war zones. Every time the media broadcasts these without checking, they’re training viewers to either believe everything or nothing,” Van Es added.
