AI-Generated Animal Videos Fool Millions on Social Media, Raising Concerns About Digital Misinformation

People Are Falling for an AI Video of Bunnies Bouncing on a Trampoline

It has over 200 million views on TikTok and has people questioning what is real and what isn't -- A viral AI video of bunnies bouncing on a trampoline has stormed the internet this week. "Just checked the home security cam and... I think we've got guest performers out back," reads the caption that also has Ring doorbell cameras tagged. The adorable video is in the style of a CCTV camera and starts with a group of bunnies on the edge of a backyard trampoline before they miraculously all start bouncing together. It follows a similar viral video of a bear bouncing on a trampoline that also fooled people into believing it was real. Both videos have sounds added to them to make them appear more realistic. "I'm getting scammed when I'm older," writes one person beneath the bunny video. "This is the first AI that has ever got me," writes Leenie24. The video achieves almost perfect verisimilitude except for a couple of details: At the beginning of the video, one of the bunnies has two heads, but the most obvious giveaway is later in the video when one of the bunnies disappears from view. "People want to believe, and the fact that it is AI generated is causing widespread crisis among people who thought that AI slop would only fool their parents," writes 404 Media which points out that the bunny video is more difficult to spot as a fake because of the security camera style which masks some of the video's flaws. But it is surely just a matter of time before these kinks are ironed out and AI videos are near-indistinguishable from real ones. With the likes of Google releasing ever more impressive models like Veo 3, people will be fooled by synthetic content on a more regular basis in the near future. One X user compiled a series of disturbing AI videos that have gone viral on TikTok, which include the world's largest dog called Titan. These videos often have long, probably AI-generated, descriptions in an attempt to make them more convincing. Another video of a seagull sitting on the hood of a car looking at a French fry looks realistic enough until it smashes the window to grab it.

AI-generated animals in fake surveillance videos are fooling the internet

If the internet loves anything, it's cute animals. But now, in the age of AI, you cannot trust the animal videos you see online. You might've seen a recent viral video featuring bunnies jumping on a trampoline, seemingly captured via a home surveillance camera. It's adorable. And fake. Completely and totally fabricated via artificial intelligence. Here's the AI video in question. It was seemingly first posted on TikTok by @rachelthecatlovers with the caption: "Just checked the home security cam and... I think we've got guest performers out back! @Ring." That video has racked up a whopping 203 million views on TikTok. Tech-focused site 404Media first pointed out that it was generated by artificial intelligence. As the site spotted, you can clearly see one of the bunnies spontaneously disappear in the midst of a jump, and the background of the video appears to be very static. Still, the AI video does a really good job of disguising itself. For one, it's made to look like night-time surveillance footage, which means it's easier to hide AI artifacts and low quality. Second, it does look pretty good and incorporates sounds that seems to be real -- bugs in the distance, springs squeaking as the bunnies jump. Third, it even tags Ring to make it seem like it was captured by a real camera. But it is, in fact, fake, even if it did fool lots of folks. Ever since Google Veo 3 was released, it's become easier to make convincing AI videos with sound. People are getting a little freaked out that they got fooled by AI, something they thought only happened to other, more gullible people. "This is the first AI that has ever got me," read a top comment. "[How] is this not real," read another. "A few years ago I was laughing at my mother for believing ai," read another. The bunny video -- while possibly the most believable -- is far from the only AI-generated animal video to go viral. There seems to be a whole genre of fake videos of people cleaning barnacles off of whales, for instance. Or here's a mash-up of all the silly, fake doorbell-cam footage of animals. Faux surveillance footage of animals seems to be a new genre of AI slop, unfortunately. So if you see unbelievable animal footage out there, then maybe don't, you know, believe it.