This shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did. There are a number of AI-created videos rolling around on TikTok and Instagram solely for the purpose of perpetuating the myth of the welfare queen.
These videos usually portray a non-white, non-skinny, non-educated person crashing out at the cash register over frozen food stamps. They’re threatening to steal food or cause harm. There are a few variations and they just seem to further ignite hatred towards people who get assistance and push the stereotype about who gets help and why. That’s the whole point.
These videos are shared by creators looking to get extra views by promoting harmful stereotypes. Don’t fall for it! AI is quickly improving in its capabilities and the best thing you can do is arm yourself against falling for it.
Remember, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is. Maybe you’ve seen videos of a small child being rescued from a tree falling by a dog. Another video depicts a bull defending a toddler from another bull. Bunnies or raccoons jumping on a trampoline. Grandma taking a herd of cats on leashes for a walk. And my personal fav, Grandma getting in trouble with the police for feeding a bear.
How can you tell if it isn’t real?
Look for a watermark or a blurry spot where someone used poor editing to erase a watermark.
Look for a timestamp that doesn’t make sense.
Watch for strange body parts – such as odd shaped fingers and hands, a weird arm, etc.
Keep your eye on the background – parts will move or not move in ways you would expect.
Watch facial expressions – those faces may look overly botoxed, filtered, – AI doesn’t make the face move as much as it normally would.
Any unusual artifact – objects in the video don’t look right, the video may be blurred in areas you would expect detail, or you may see spots where the AI didn’t generate everything that should be there.
Security cameras. The trampoline bunnies look like the footage came from a Ring camera at night – this is intentional, because it’s easier to cover up the AI mistakes. Also, the videos of animals bringing random animals into their owner’s beds – these are AI. Who films their bed with a security camera while they are sleeping?
Things that are out of character. I watched a video of Mr. Rogers crashing out and screaming obscenities. That is completely out of character for his personality, both real and on-screen.
If you have to question if it’s AI, it probably is.
AI videos are a lot of fun to play with but they can be very damaging, especially when they are used to further stereotypes that can cause significant harm to people (imagine the ramifications of the ‘welfare queen’ video or a video of real person doing something illegal they never actually did).
Use your common sense and please stop the stereotype narratives at every opportunity.