Did you fall for that adorable video of bunnies jumping on a trampoline while scrolling through your social feed? A lot of us did. Along with that clip of a reporter interviewing someone who receives SNAP benefits, but these were fake content generated by artificial intelligence.
The thing is, as AI tools improve and become more accessible, it’s getting tougher to know if you’re being duped by videos in your feed. But there are a few things to look out for to get better at spotting AI, according to experts.
- Pay attention to video quality and length - Grainy videos are a red flag it might be created by AI. Footage from security cameras and night vision videos are good at fooling people because their low resolution helps to hide flaws. AI-generated tools tend to limit the length of videos that can be made for free, so they’re often super short, which also helps hide imperfections.
- “The three things to look for are resolution, quality and length,” UC Berkeley political science professor Hany Farid explains. “For the most part, AI videos are very short, even shorter than the typical videos we see on TikTok or Instagram which are about 30 to 60 seconds. The vast majority of videos I get asked to verify are six, eight or 10 seconds long.”
- Does it feel real? - If you notice someone’s skin looking too perfect or shiny like a doll in a video, that’s another sign. Unnatural movements or an unusually steady camera can also tip you off, because when people are filming, they tend to be a little shaky.
- Look for a watermark - Some apps used to create AI videos, like Sora, leave a watermark on it, making it obvious. But they can be cropped out, so it’s not a perfect detection method.
- Do your research - Suspicious of a video or photo? Dig a little deeper and look at the metadata (find out how to check it here). That should tell you where and when the image or video was taken, if it ever really was.
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