AI-Generated Hurricane Videos Flood Social Media as Melissa Threatens Jamaica

Be Wary of AI Videos as Hurricane Melissa Hits Jamaica. How to Spot a Fake

Macy has been working for CNET for coming on 2 years. Prior to CNET, Macy received a North Carolina College Media Association award in sports writing. As Category 5 Hurricane Melissa bears down on Jamaica with winds topping 180 mph, social media is being hit by a surge of AI-generated and misleading videos, showing catastrophic flooding, collapsing buildings and rescue scenes that never happened. Across X, TikTok, Instagram, WhatsApp and other social media platforms, fake clips spread quickly, racking up millions of views in hours. Many of these videos are spliced footage from past storms or clips created entirely with text-to-video AI tools. In times of crisis, like a dangerous and imminent natural disaster, these fake videos can create confusion, panic and distraction at a time when accuracy can be life-saving. Natural disasters have always bred rumors and recycled footage, but the rise of AI-generated video has supercharged the problem. Tools like OpenAI's Sora and other AI-video platforms can render realistic-looking images of storms, floods and damage scenes in seconds, reaching millions online in just a few hours. Read also: The Deepfakes Are Winning. How Can You Tell if a Video Is Real or Sora AI? Don't miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source. Storms are visual, emotional and fast-moving, which is the perfect recipe for viral misinformation. In years past, videos were often taken out of context or labeled as a different storm. Now, they can be digitally fabricated from scratch. Some depict apocalyptic flooding that hasn't occurred, while others claim to show "real-time" conditions hours before landfall. Several videos that have circled this week include images of sharks swimming in the storm surge and unsettling depictions of human suffering. False videos like these can exaggerate the danger of the storm, create panic, undermine trust and distract emergency responders, as misinformation pulls attention from verified reports. The following three videos are all fake. They are labeled (albeit briefly) with the Sora watermark, which indicates they were made in OpenAI's video generator. How to separate truth from fiction online When social feeds fill with dramatic hurricane clips, it's important to separate truth from fiction. "You have to be very discerning," Senator Dana Morris Dixon, Jamaica's information minister, said. "You have to know what is good information from bad information. If you want to know where the storm is going, if you want to know what to do, you need to look for official sources." Dixon highlighted that the Jamaica Information Service, Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management's information sites and the Office of the Prime Minister page are resources for legitimate, timely updates. Here are some ways to be discerning. Check the source. If the video comes from an unfamiliar account, lacks a timestamp or carries no recognizable media branding, assume it is fake until verified. Also, look for the Sora watermark indicating it was made in OpenAI's app, or read the comments to see if someone else has flagged the video as fake. Ask yourself if it's new and local. Does the geography match Jamaica? Is the footage recent? Many "Melissa" clips could actually be from past Caribbean or Gulf storms. Cross-check before believing. Confirm through trusted outlets, like the Meteorological Service of Jamaica and the US National Hurricane Center, or established media like the BBC, Reuters or the Associated Press. Pause before sharing. A viral video can cause harm if it spreads misinformation. Wait until a credible source verifies it before reposting. Go local. If you're in the affected area, rely on local emergency agencies, radio stations and city or county-level officials for evacuation and safety updates. Monitor official alerts. For real-time instructions, stick with government channels and local emergency feeds. Your safety depends on accurate information, not viral content. As AI-generated media becomes easier to produce, hurricanes like Melissa offer a preview of a new reality: one in which you can't trust much of the information you see online. Staying safe means being skeptical and diligent when looking for accurate and even lifesaving news.

Phony AI-generated videos of Hurricane Melissa flood social media sites

One viral video shows what appears to be four sharks swimming in a Jamaican hotel's pool as floodwaters allegedly brought on by Hurricane Melissa swamp the area. Another purportedly depicts Jamaica's Kingston airport completely ravaged by the storm. But neither of these events happened, it's just AI-generated misinformation circulating on social media as the storm churned across the Caribbean this week. These videos and others have racked up millions of views on social media platforms, including X, TikTok and Instagram. Some of the clips appear to be spliced together or based on footage of old disasters. Others appear to be created entirely by AI video generators. "I am in so many WhatsApp groups and I see all of these videos coming. Many of them are fake," said Jamaica's education minister Dana Morris Dixon on Monday. "And so we urge you to please listen to the official channels." Although it's common for hoax photos, videos and misinformation to surface during natural disasters, they're usually debunked quickly. But videos generated by new artificial intelligence tools have taken the problem to a new level by making it easy to create and spread realistic clips. In this case, the content has been showing up in social media feeds alongside genuine footage shot by local residents, sowing confusion among social media users. Here are a few steps you can take to reduce your chances of getting fooled. Look for a watermark logo indicating that the video was generated by Sora, a text-to-video tool launched by ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, or other AI video generators. These will usually appear in one of the corners of a video or photo. It is quite easy to remove these logos using third-party tools, so you can also check for blurs, pixelation or discoloration where a watermark should be. Look more closely at videos for unclear details. While the sharks-in-pool video appears realistic at first glance, it looks less believable upon closer examination because one of the sharks has a strange shape. You might see objects that blend together, or details such as lettering on a sign that are garbled, which are telltale signs of AI-generated imagery. Branding is also something to look out for as many platforms are cautious about reproducing specific company logos. Experts say it's going to get increasingly harder to tell the difference between reality and deepfakes as the technology improves. Experts noted that Melissa is the first big natural disaster since OpenAI launched the latest version of its video generation tool Sora last month. "Now, with the rise of easily accessible and powerful tools like Sora, it has become even easier for bad actors to create and distribute highly convincing synthetic videos," said Sofia Rubinson, a senior editor at NewsGuard, which analyzes online misinformation. "In the past, people could often identify fakes through telltale signs like unnatural motion, distorted text, or missing fingers. But as these systems improve, many of those flaws are disappearing, making it increasingly difficult for the average viewer to distinguish AI-generated content from authentic footage." AI expert Henry Ajder said most of the hurricane deepfakes he's seen aren't inherently political. He suspects its "much closer to more traditional kind of click-based content, which is to try and get engagement, to try and get clicks." On X, users can get paid based on the amount of engagement their posts get. YouTubers can earn money from ads. A video that racks up millions of views could earn the creator a few thousand dollars, Ajder said, not bad for the amount of effort needed. Social media accounts also use videos to expand their follower base in order to promote projects, products or services, Ajder said. So check who's posting the video. If the account has a track record of posting clickbait-style content, be skeptical. But keep in mind that the people behind deepfake videos aren't always trying to hide. "Some creators are just trying to do interesting things using AI that they think are going to get people's attention," he said. While it's unclear who exactly created the pool shark video, one version found on Instagram carries the watermark for a TikTok account, Yulian_Studios. That account's TikTok profile describes itself, in Spanish, as a "Content creator with AI visual effects in the Dominican Republic." The shark video can't be found on the account's page, but it does have another AI-generated clip of an obese man clinging to a palm tree as hurricane winds blow in Jamaica. Context matters. Take a beat to consider whether what you're seeing is plausible. The Poynter journalism website advises that if you see a situation that seems "exaggerated, unrealistic or not in character," consider that it could be a deepfake. That includes the audio. AI videos used to come with synthetic voice-overs that had unusual cadence or tone, but newer tools can create synchronized sound that sound realistic. And if you found it on X, make sure to check whether there's a community note attached, which is the platform's user-powered fact-checking tool. One version of the shark pool video on X comes with a community note that says: "This video footage and the voice used were both created by artificial intelligence, it is not real footage of hurricane Melissa in Jamaica." Don't just rely on random strangers on the internet for information. The Jamaican government has been posting storm updates and so has the National Hurricane Center.

Fake hurricane videos shared online including AI-generated sharks

Many dramatic videos created with artificial intelligence are being shared online as Hurricane Melissa gets closer to Jamaica. We have observed dozens of such videos on TikTok, which have racked up millions of views in total. A search for Hurricane Melissa on the platform leads users to many AI-generated or old clips from past storms.Some of the videos have watermarks that clarify they were created with AI-generators such as Open AI's text-to-video model Sora. Others have removed or blurred watermarks in an apparent attempt to mislead viewers, or feature fake reporters and a mix of short clips that appear like legitimate reports from local sources. One video, viewed half a million times on TikTok, shows a woman on a balcony filming two sharks swimming in heavily flooded streets. There's a blurred sign visible on the bottom left of the clip, likely a watermark that's been hidden. The uploader later added a label to the caption to indicate the video was made with AI. One dramatic clip, viewed 2.6 million times, shows what appears to be the eye of the storm filmed from a passenger plane flying nearby. "That moment when you realise the swirling clouds below aren't just clouds... they're a hurricane," reads the caption. But the video is not real, and was posted by a user who has a history of sharing fake clips of natural disasters. The clip appears similar to real footage filmed by a US Air Force Reserve crew known as the "Hurricane Hunters" on Monday. Another clip shows a group of men running for safety as a huge wave makes landfall near a coast. A small VEO watermark is visible on the bottom right, which makes it clear the video was made using Google's text-to-video generator. According to an AFP report on Monday, external, TikTok recently removed more than two dozen AI videos of the hurricane. However, fake clips continue to circulate widely on the platform.

AI-generated fakes proliferate as Hurricane Melissa nears Jamaica

Washington (AFP) - AI-generated videos were clogging social media feeds Monday as Hurricane Melissa surged toward Jamaica, diverting attention from critical safety information about the massive Category 5 storm. AFP surfaced dozens of fakes -- most bearing watermarks for OpenAI's text-to-video model Sora -- as Melissa was set to pummel the Caribbean island with violent winds and heavy rains. The videos depicted a range of fabricated scenarios, from dramatic newscasts and shots of severe flooding to images of sharks in the water as well as poignant scenes of human suffering. Others appeared to show locals -- often voiced with strong Jamaican accents that seemed aimed at reinforcing stereotypes -- partying, boating, jet skiing, swimming or otherwise minimizing the threat of what forecasters have warned could be the island's most violent weather on record. Senator Dana Morris Dixon, Jamaica's information minister, said that she and other ministers were jointly taking part in a Monday press briefing to give "correct information" about the approaching monster storm. "I am in so many WhatsApp groups, and I see all of these videos coming. Many of them are fake," Dixon said. "And so we urge you to please listen to the official channels." Even ostensibly innocuous fakes can contribute to drowning out important safety alerts or cause viewers to underestimate the danger of severe storm events, experts said. "This storm is a huge storm that will likely cause catastrophic damage, and fake content undermines the seriousness of the message from the government to be prepared," said Amy McGovern, a University of Oklahoma meteorology professor whose research has focused on using AI to improve extreme weather forecasting. "Eventually such fake content will lead to loss of life and property," she told AFP. Videos circulating on TikTok, Facebook The clips AFP identified spread primarily on TikTok, where only some carried a label despite the platform's policy requiring users to disclose realistic AI-generated content. TikTok appeared to remove more than two dozen such videos - as well as multiple accounts dedicated to sharing them - after AFP flagged them to the platform. A few other examples were found circulating on Facebook and Instagram, even though parent company Meta's policies say labels are also mandated for photorealistic videos created with AI. Hany Farid, co-founder of the cybersecurity company GetReal Security and a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said the hurricane-related AI content underscores how new text-to-video models have "accelerated the spread of convincing fakes." The apps allow users to create clips featuring hyper-realistic human likenesses. AFP reached out to OpenAI for comment, but did not get an immediate response. Many viewers seemed unaware the images were AI-generated, despite the Sora watermark, AFP's review of the videos' comment sections found. "God please protect grandpa's home and mango tree," one commenter wrote under an AI video on TikTok of an old man yelling at the hurricane that he would not "move for a little breeze." Another user asked him to post more updates on the state of his property. A rush of similar prayers were offered under a different video that portrayed a woman crying for help while holding babies under a roofless home. "The paradox of the information age is that we are becoming less informed as a public as the amount of information increases," Farid told AFP.

Phony AI-generated videos of Hurricane Melissa flood social media sites

One viral video shows what appears to be four sharks swimming in a Jamaican hotel's pool as floodwaters allegedly brought on by Hurricane Melissa swamp the area. Another purportedly depicts Jamaica's Kingston airport completely ravaged by the storm. But neither of these events happened, it's just AI-generated misinformation circulating on social media as the storm churned across the Caribbean this week. These videos and others have racked up millions of views on social media platforms, including X, TikTok and Instagram. Some of the clips appear to be spliced together or based on footage of old disasters. Others appear to be created entirely by AI video generators. "I am in so many WhatsApp groups and I see all of these videos coming. Many of them are fake," said Jamaica's education minister Dana Morris Dixon on Monday. "And so we urge you to please listen to the official channels." Although it's common for hoax photos, videos and misinformation to surface during natural disasters, they're usually debunked quickly. But videos generated by new artificial intelligence tools have taken the problem to a new level by making it easy to create and spread realistic clips. In this case, the content has been showing up in social media feeds alongside genuine footage shot by local residents, sowing confusion among social media users. Here are a few steps you can take to reduce your chances of getting fooled. Check for watermarks Look for a watermark logo indicating that the video was generated by Sora, a text-to-video tool launched by ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, or other AI video generators. These will usually appear in one of the corners of a video or photo. It is quite easy to remove these logos using third-party tools, so you can also check for blurs, pixelation or discoloration where a watermark should be. Take a closer look Look more closely at videos for unclear details. While the sharks-in-pool video appears realistic at first glance, it looks less believable upon closer examination because one of the sharks has a strange shape. You might see objects that blend together, or details such as lettering on a sign that are garbled, which are telltale signs of AI-generated imagery. Branding is also something to look out for as many platforms are cautious about reproducing specific company logos. Experts say it's going to get increasingly harder to tell the difference between reality and deepfakes as the technology improves. Experts noted that Melissa is the first big natural disaster since OpenAI launched the latest version of its video generation tool Sora last month. "Now, with the rise of easily accessible and powerful tools like Sora, it has become even easier for bad actors to create and distribute highly convincing synthetic videos," said Sofia Rubinson, a senior editor at NewsGuard, which analyzes online misinformation. "In the past, people could often identify fakes through telltale signs like unnatural motion, distorted text, or missing fingers. But as these systems improve, many of those flaws are disappearing, making it increasingly difficult for the average viewer to distinguish AI-generated content from authentic footage." Why create deepfakes around a crisis? AI expert Henry Ajder said most of the hurricane deepfakes he's seen aren't inherently political. He suspects its "much closer to more traditional kind of click-based content, which is to try and get engagement, to try and get clicks." On X, users can get paid based on the amount of engagement their posts get. YouTubers can earn money from ads. A video that racks up millions of views could earn the creator a few thousand dollars, Ajder said, not bad for the amount of effort needed. Social media accounts also use videos to expand their follower base in order to promote projects, products or services, Ajder said. So check who's posting the video. If the account has a track record of posting clickbait-style content, be skeptical. But keep in mind that the people behind deepfake videos aren't always trying to hide. "Some creators are just trying to do interesting things using AI that they think are going to get people's attention," he said. So who is behind the account? While it's unclear who exactly created the pool shark video, one version found on Instagram carries the watermark for a TikTok account, Yulian_Studios. That account's TikTok profile describes itself, in Spanish, as a "Content creator with AI visual effects in the Dominican Republic." The shark video can't be found on the account's page, but it does have another AI-generated clip of an obese man clinging to a palm tree as hurricane winds blow in Jamaica. Trust your gut Context matters. Take a beat to consider whether what you're seeing is plausible. The Poynter journalism website advises that if you see a situation that seems "exaggerated, unrealistic or not in character," consider that it could be a deepfake. That includes the audio. AI videos used to come with synthetic voice-overs that had unusual cadence or tone, but newer tools can create synchronized sound that sound realistic. And if you found it on X, make sure to check whether there's a community note attached, which is the platform's user-powered fact-checking tool. One version of the shark pool video on X comes with a community note that says: "This video footage and the voice used were both created by artificial intelligence, it is not real footage of hurricane Melissa in Jamaica." Go to an official source Don't just rely on random strangers on the internet for information. The Jamaican government has been posting storm updates and so has the National Hurricane Center.

Phony AI-Generated Videos of Hurricane Melissa Flood Social Media Sites

One viral video shows what appears to be four sharks swimming in a Jamaican hotel's pool as floodwaters allegedly brought on by Hurricane Melissa swamp the area. Another purportedly depicts Jamaica's Kingston airport completely ravaged by the storm. But neither of these events happened, it's just AI-generated misinformation circulating on social media as the storm churned across the Caribbean this week. These videos and others have racked up millions of views on social media platforms, including X, TikTok and Instagram. Some of the clips appear to be spliced together or based on footage of old disasters. Others appear to be created entirely by AI video generators. "I am in so many WhatsApp groups and I see all of these videos coming. Many of them are fake," said Jamaica's education minister Dana Morris Dixon on Monday. "And so we urge you to please listen to the official channels." Although it's common for hoax photos, videos and misinformation to surface during natural disasters, they're usually debunked quickly. But videos generated by new artificial intelligence tools have taken the problem to a new level by making it easy to create and spread realistic clips. In this case, the content has been showing up in social media feeds alongside genuine footage shot by local residents, sowing confusion among social media users. Here are a few steps you can take to reduce your chances of getting fooled. Check for watermarks Look for a watermark logo indicating that the video was generated by Sora, a text-to-video tool launched by ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, or other AI video generators. These will usually appear in one of the corners of a video or photo. It is quite easy to remove these logos using third-party tools, so you can also check for blurs, pixelation or discoloration where a watermark should be. Take a closer look Look more closely at videos for unclear details. While the sharks-in-pool video appears realistic at first glance, it looks less believable upon closer examination because one of the sharks has a strange shape. You might see objects that blend together, or details such as lettering on a sign that are garbled, which are telltale signs of AI-generated imagery. Branding is also something to look out for as many platforms are cautious about reproducing specific company logos. Experts say it's going to get increasingly harder to tell the difference between reality and deepfakes as the technology improves. Experts noted that Melissa is the first big natural disaster since OpenAI launched the latest version of its video generation tool Sora last month. "Now, with the rise of easily accessible and powerful tools like Sora, it has become even easier for bad actors to create and distribute highly convincing synthetic videos," said Sofia Rubinson, a senior editor at NewsGuard, which analyzes online misinformation. "In the past, people could often identify fakes through telltale signs like unnatural motion, distorted text, or missing fingers. But as these systems improve, many of those flaws are disappearing, making it increasingly difficult for the average viewer to distinguish AI-generated content from authentic footage." Why create deepfakes around a crisis? AI expert Henry Ajder said most of the hurricane deepfakes he's seen aren't inherently political. He suspects its "much closer to more traditional kind of click-based content, which is to try and get engagement, to try and get clicks." On X, users can get paid based on the amount of engagement their posts get. YouTubers can earn money from ads. A video that racks up millions of views could earn the creator a few thousand dollars, Ajder said, not bad for the amount of effort needed. Social media accounts also use videos to expand their follower base in order to promote projects, products or services, Ajder said. So check who's posting the video. If the account has a track record of posting clickbait-style content, be skeptical. But keep in mind that the people behind deepfake videos aren't always trying to hide. "Some creators are just trying to do interesting things using AI that they think are going to get people's attention," he said. So who is behind the account? While it's unclear who exactly created the pool shark video, one version found on Instagram carries the watermark for a TikTok account, Yulian_Studios. That account's TikTok profile describes itself, in Spanish, as a "Content creator with AI visual effects in the Dominican Republic." The shark video can't be found on the account's page, but it does have another AI-generated clip of an obese man clinging to a palm tree as hurricane winds blow in Jamaica. Trust your gut Context matters. Take a beat to consider whether what you're seeing is plausible. The Poynter journalism website advises that if you see a situation that seems "exaggerated, unrealistic or not in character," consider that it could be a deepfake. That includes the audio. AI videos used to come with synthetic voice-overs that had unusual cadence or tone, but newer tools can create synchronized sound that sound realistic. And if you found it on X, make sure to check whether there's a community note attached, which is the platform's user-powered fact-checking tool. One version of the shark pool video on X comes with a community note that says: "This video footage and the voice used were both created by artificial intelligence, it is not real footage of hurricane Melissa in Jamaica." Go to an official source Don't just rely on random strangers on the internet for information. The Jamaican government has been posting storm updates and so has the National Hurricane Center.