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This TikTok account pumped out fake war footage with AI — until CBC News investigated


For months, an anonymous TikTok account hosted dozens of AI-generated videos of explosions and burning cities. The videos racked up tens of millions of views and fuelled other posts that claimed, falsely, they were real footage of the war in Ukraine.After CBC News contacted TikTok and the account owner for comment, it disappeared from the platform.The account, flight_area_zone, had several videos featuring massive explosions which reached millions of viewers. The videos featured hallmarks of AI

Several of the videos were spread across different social media platforms by other users, who posted them alongside claims they depicted actual war footage, with several gaining tens of thousands of views. Older videos showed AI-generated tornadoes and planes catching on fire — a progression that suggests experimentation with what kind of content would be popular and promote engagement, which can be lucrative. Melissa Fleming, the undersecretary-general for global communications, told a UN body that generative AI allowed people to create large quantities of convincing misinformation at a low cost.

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