Fake AI videos clog social media as Hurricane Melissa bears down on Jamaica
Jamaica’s information minister urges people to ‘listen to the official channels’ as Category 5 storm approaches
AI-generated videos were clogging social media feeds on Monday as Hurricane Melissa surged towards Jamaica, diverting attention from critical safety information about the massive Category 5 storm.
Agence France-Presse 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 situations, 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 minimising the threat of what forecasters have warned could be the island’s most violent weather on record.
Blamed for seven deaths in the northern Caribbean as it headed toward the island, Melissa was on track to make landfall Tuesday in Jamaica before coming ashore in Cuba later in the day and then heading toward the Bahamas. It was not expected to affect the United States.