As Jackie crouches in the nest, Shadow carefully places one clawed paw at a time, then the other on top of Jackie.
With Big Bear Lake glistening in the distance, he lifts his legs in a kneading motion that reminds me of a bald eagle massage.
“Somehow this movie says everything about their bond,” the caption of the 15-second video posted to Facebook reads.
Looks kind. Looks real.
it’s not.
Clips are generated by AI.
Jackie and Shadow, who became world-famous through a 24-hour livestream, aren’t the only animals falsely depicted using deepfakes. AI wildlife videos flood social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, garnering millions of views and likes. Some are whimsical, like a few bunnies jumping on a trampoline. Others take on a more menacing tone, like a jaguar confronting a dog in a snowy backyard.
Some experts say these videos are far from harmless and can distort how people view and even interact with wild animals, potentially leading to dangerous encounters. It can also hurt the value of your audience. Increased desire to be in tune with nature To escape from the hectic rhythm of daily life. With repeated exposure, undermine trust in the media and institutions generallyOne Reddit user declared, “You can’t even watch videos of real animals because it’s 90% AI.” There are also legal implications.
The deception works because the depictions are often surreal. The producer of the animal-centered media outlet “Dodo” also admitted that he was fascinated by the bouncing rabbit. Video often looks like it was ripped from a trail or security camera, giving it an air of authenticity. In a competitive economy for attention, videos can help Win over looks and tasteswhich may generate advertising revenue for those who post them.
Megan Brief, digital marketing coordinator for ecotourism company Natural Habitat Adventures, had just returned from Svalbard, a remote Norwegian archipelago home to polar bears and walruses.
Her social media feed was filled with videos of polar bear rescues, including fishermen and scientists carrying frozen, struggling baby polar bears onto boats. On board, people took selfies with the cub before being reunited with its mother.
She knew they were fake because she was familiar with the behavior of all-white predators who fiercely protect their children. As the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service warns, these “large and powerful carnivores” can easily injure or kill humans. It would also be illegal to intervene.
But thousands of commenters took what they saw at face value.
(Photo illustration by Jim Cooke / Los Angeles Times; Source photo / Getty Images)
“This shows you can get this close to wild animals. It’s not only dangerous for you, it’s dangerous for the animals,” said Brief, who is also a wildlife photographer. Social media is full of information about all kinds of AI-powered animal rescues.
“It is everyone’s dream to be one with all animals and wildlife, but we must respect their habitat and behavior and give them the space they need,” she added.
Conversely, she said the video could perpetuate the myth that predators like wolves and mountain lions are more dangerous than they really are. It’s easy to see how the video could spark a heated debate over the management of such animals in California and elsewhere.
In a paper published in the journal Conservation Biology last September, the researchers also said the video could lead people to believe that animals are more abundant or less threatening than they actually are. As a result, donations and volunteer activities may decrease.
“If the public is unable to distinguish between real threats to biodiversity and fictional stories, the perceived urgency to take action may diminish,” the researchers wrote.
Jenny Voisard, media and website manager for Friends of Big Bear Valley, the nonprofit that operates the cameras that trained Jackie and Shadow, said her inbox is filled with complaints about the AI content. Grifters are nothing new – this nonprofit has been around for a long time fought with a fake account — but they evolved with technology.
People who follow the beloved eagle will be fed more content about the eagle by an algorithm, and AI will bring it to the top of their feeds, she said. (This likely explains why this reporter is frequently offered fake offers when he opens Facebook.)
“People get very upset when they see someone portraying Jackie and Shadow in an unnatural way or incorrectly, or when they appear to be in danger,” Voisard says. Some clips showed owls and crows attacking the couple, particularly infuriating fans.
The nonprofit recently trademarked its name and is in the process of copyrighting its livestream. She said the key is to protect what the eagles create, including merchandise and detailed records of the eagles’ movements, from counterfeiters.
But ownership in the age of AI is fraught with challenges. Voisade said live streams could be protected by copyright because they are more than just fixed cameras. A human interacts with it and makes choices such as zooming in.
Cristeria Garcia, a professor at Georgetown Law School, said creative choices like this allow livestream operators to properly claim copyright. Whether something violates it is another matter.
If someone asked a large language model to create a three-minute video featuring an eagle without using copyrighted material, there’s no harm done, it’s not a violation, she said. However, if a non-profit organization feeds footage from an AI program and asks it to manipulate it, it could face copyright infringement claims.
But is it worth the fight? “Copyright litigation is very expensive and very unpredictable,” said Garcia, who specializes in copyright law. She suspects nonprofits are only willing to take risks if there’s a lot of money at stake.
As for concerns about misinformation, “there’s really no legal recourse to say ‘I was fooled,'” she says. Celebrities enjoy certain protections regarding name, image, and likeness, but famous animals do not.
A fake video of Shadow “massaging” Jackie casts a positive light on the eagles. There’s no doubt that our friends at Big Bear Valley are perpetuating the bird love story they describe in their own posts.
But Voisard believes people are increasingly turning to animal livestreams to escape human artifacts. Ironically, AI may be driving people to authentic nature precisely because it cannot replicate it.
“Livestreams are not something that happens in nature, but it is the closest many people will get to experiencing it,” she said. “Being outdoors is what’s best for us, for our health, for our well-being, and making that connection. For me, that’s not what AI does.”
